The Public Policy Forum released a report today on the contribution that offshore wind can make to electricity production in Canada, particularly on the Atlantic coast.

"There is currently an exceptionally rare resource in Canada," said Ambroise Watz, Director of Offshore Wind Project Development at SBM Offshore, a cross-border company based in the Netherlands dedicated to selling systems and services to the fossil fuel industry. "I have no doubt that there will be other projects."

This company, along with the Irish company DP Energy, dedicated to harnessing renewable energy sources, announced in August its intention to install twenty offshore wind turbines off the coast of Guysborough, on the eastern shore of Nova Scotia, before 2030. This is the first offshore wind turbine project to be announced in Canada.

The report's author, Peter Nicholson, Chair of the Canadian Climate Institute and a resident of Halifax, explained that wind energy could become for Atlantic Canada what oil is for Texas.

Peter Nicholson, Chair of the Canadian Climate Institute and a resident of Halifax, further clarified that wind energy could become for Atlantic Canada what oil is for Texas.

The report stated that Sable Island, located about 200 kilometers off the coast of Nova Scotia, could serve as an Eldorado for offshore wind projects.

Its geographical location allows for a large-scale project, as the waters there are shallow, around 60 meters, and free from ice.

This site could host at least 1,000 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 15 megawatts, which equates to an output of 70,000 gigawatt-hours, double the energy consumed in the Atlantic provinces.