Towards the construction of the first offshore wind turbines in Newfoundland and Labrador

The Newfoundland and Labrador government will introduce legislation this fall paving the way for the construction of offshore wind turbines, according to the provincial minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.

We still have work to do before the first wind turbines are built, but this bill will put in place the regulations to allow these discussionsaffirms Andrew Parsonson the sidelines of a press conference on maritime research, Friday, in Saint-Jean.

The Senate adopted Bill C-49 on Tuesday, which regulates the construction of offshore wind turbines in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, a sector still in its infancy in the two provinces.

Under the Atlantic Accords on Joint Management of Offshore Energy Projects, the two provinces must adopt their own version of the bill.

Nova Scotia has already done so and its Minister of Natural and Renewable Resources, Tory Rushtonpromises that a call for tenders will be launched in 2025 for the first permits to construct offshore wind turbines.

At the moment we are mainly focusing on wind turbines on land.affirms Andrew Parsonshighlighting the many green hydrogen and ammonia plants proposed in Newfoundland. Some developers propose to power their project with hundreds of wind turbines.

The minister Parsons however, promises that a bill on the regulation of offshore wind turbines will be presented to the House of Assembly by the holidays.

Concerns among federal Conservatives

In Ottawa, Conservative elected officials fear the impacts of Bill C-49 on the fishing industry and the oil sector. Clifford Smalldeputy for Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dameunderlines among other things that the bill does not propose any compensation to fishermen whose fishing zones will be given to wind turbine developers.

The Conservative spokesperson for Fisheries and the Coast Guard points out that fishermen cannot insure their boats if they fish in areas where there are offshore wind turbines. He says that inside offshore parks, fishermen’s radar systems do not work properly and search and rescue operations can be very complex.

Max Ruelokkeformer president of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, the commission regulating the province’s oil sector, is concerned that Bill C-49 would allow the provincial and federal governments to terminate energy projects, even those already in production, based on environmental imperatives.

According to him, the federal government could mandate that an oil project cease its activities if it decides that they threaten or could threaten the environment, thus endangering brand new investment in offshore oil extraction.

We have companies that invest billions of dollars. […] For a regulatory regime to work, companies must be confident that the rules of the game will not change overnight.renchérit Clifford Small.

Partisan joust

Andrew Parsons rejects these criticisms. He points out that experts from the governments of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia analyzed the bill proposed by the federal Liberals.

We are witnessing a partisan contesthe says.

The Federal Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinsonsaid Wednesday that the construction of offshore wind farms will create thousands of jobs in the Atlantic.