Healey takes next step in bid to get in on Canadian offshore wind

PRESIDENT TRUMP BLOCKED Massachusetts from unlocking new offshore wind from its own coasts, dealing a crucial blow to the state’s energy transition. So Gov. Maura Healey is testing the waters to the north instead.

The Healey administration is spearheading an effort alongside other New England states to tap into work underway in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia to advance offshore wind projects there, as it eyes potential energy supply and economic benefits here at home.

Massachusetts is issuing a formal request for information with Nova Scotia to test market interest and feasibility among energy developers, supply chain companies, port entities, organized labor, utilities, and the fishing industry. Maine, Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode Island are also participating.

It’s just one procedural step on what would be a long road to achieving an ambitious vision of bringing energy generated by Canadian offshore wind into New England. But the move is a concrete signal of the state’s seriousness in collaborating with Nova Scotia to boost offshore wind and find a Plan B to the now-stalled domestic wind industry on which Massachusetts had been relying.

“We need more affordable, reliable energy, and that’s going to take working with our neighbors,” Healey said in a statement. “Massachusetts and Nova Scotia have a strong partnership, and we’re building on that relationship to explore new opportunities to bring offshore wind power to New England. This work has the potential to lower energy costs, strengthen our energy supply and create good-paying jobs in our port communities.”

Nova Scotia appeared ready to launch bids this winter to lease areas off its coast for wind development, though that timeline may be delayed.

Still, Massachusetts is looking to establish itself as a player in the province’s wind development well before any projects even get off the ground.

The 12-page RFI, issued Thursday, asks stakeholders to weigh in on how big potential Canadian offshore wind projects should be, what specific type of technology should be deployed, realistic timelines for project completion, and how existing US port capacity and supply-chain infrastructure could be leveraged to bring potential projects to life.

And the document starts to tackle what will be the pressing and likely messy question of transmission, pondering whether an undersea cable or a new power line is the best mode of actually getting the wind power into New England.

Stakeholders have until the end of the year to respond to the request.

Massachusetts is fresh off the completion just last month of Vineyard Wind, the country’s largest offshore wind project, and is finally seeing Revolution Wind to its south reach full-scale operations.

Now, the movement in Canada is another welcome sign as the state navigates soaring energy costs, rising power demand, and looming ambitious clean energy targets. And it’s part of Healey’s all-of-the-above approach to energy, in which she has also championed solar, adding more nuclear power, and expanding natural gas supply.

The opportunity in Nova Scotia for the Bay State could be twofold: Massachusetts and other states in the region could serve as customers for the wind power generated in Canada, and the state could see economic and jobs benefits given the role the state’s port in New Bedford has played in offshore wind construction in the Northeast.

Still, big questions remain about how much Canadian offshore wind can do to serve Massachusetts electric customers — much less provide a way out of the energy affordability crisis any time soon.

Even before Trump canceled permits and ground domestic offshore wind to a halt, cost overruns driven by record inflation and supply chain constraints roiled the industry, spooked developers, and stalled progress.

Plus, some recent energy projects built to deliver power from Canada into New England have left room for skepticism.

A 10-year process kickstarted by Massachusetts under Gov. Charlie Baker to build a hydropower transmission line from Quebec into the region, known as the New England Clean Energy Connect, finally came to an end when power started flowing through the project this past January.

Then came the problems.

Almost immediately after NECEC turned on, the region endured a stretch of frigid temperatures during what turned out to be the coldest winter in 20 years. Electricity didn’t flow into New England on the line for 12 days, arguably when the region needed it most to meet high demand — prompting a legal brawl between Massachusetts utility companies and Hydro Quebec that’s now winding its way through court.

The NECEC then inexplicably shut down during another two-week period this past May and June. The transmission line is estimated to supply one-fifth of the state’s energy demand.

The new joint effort with Nova Scotia is filled with hurdles that could make NECEC look simple, from financing the wind projects to clearing the extra regulatory steps needed to get them sited and carry that energy across international borders to the long distance that energy would need to travel.

The RFI follows a memorandum of understanding that Healey and Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston signed earlier this year at the State House. Rebecca Tepper, secretary of energy and environmental affairs, told CommonWealth Beacon exclusively last year that she had visited Nova Scotia to meet with Canadian officials on offshore wind.

“If you’re going to start an energy infrastructure project,” she said at the MOU signing back in February, “the best time to do that is today.”