Nova Scotia Board Approves NS Power’s $257.6 Million Capital Expenditure Plan

The Nova Scotia Utility And Review Board on Aug. 13 approved Nova Scotia Power Inc.’s 2024 Annual Capital Expenditure Plan, or ACE, which details the company’s proposed capital spending for the next year. The company sought approval for capital projects totaling $257.6 million.

Nova Scotia Power estimates its total capital spending for 2024 at $433.9 million. The approved value of $257.6 million includes 27 individual capital projects totaling $104.9 million. The company plans to allocate $50.9 million on these projects in 2024 and $54.1 million in 2025 and subsequent years. Further, the board approved about $151.6 million for routine capital expenditures in 2024. The company increased the budget for vegetation management to $45 million in the 2024 plan, an increase from the $32 million invested in 2023.

Among the key projects outlined in the plan, Wreck Cove Tailrace Rock Bolting Project has an estimated cost of around $15 million. The second phase of the project requires remediation and stabilization of the tailrace tunnel at the Wreck Cove Generating Station. Wreck Cove is NS Power’s largest hydro generating station with an annual power generation capacity of 330 GWh. The plan also includes an upgrade to the company’s enterprise resource planning system at an estimated cost of $6.2 million.

Further, the board directed that NS Power file an update of its “The Path to 2030,” which outlines how the company will meet decarbonization and clean energy targets, on an annual basis until 2030. The climate targets in this 2030 plan, which was released in January, align with the provincial Renewable Electricity Regulations and the federal Reduction of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Coal-fired Generation of Electricity Regulations. These legislative measures require utility companies to achieve 80 percent of electricity sales from renewable resources and phase out coal generation by 2030.