Editorial: Revised Atlantic Loop is a welcome project

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We are heartened to see continued progress on the Atlantic Loop link between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

The Loop was originally imagined as a full-circle set of electricity transmission expansion projects, adding links from Quebec through the Atlantic provinces to allow for greater power imports and exports. It aimed to help balance the volatility of wind and solar energy with dispatchable hydroelectricity, providing us all with a reliable but still renewable power grid.

But a key component of that formula was a willing Quebec. And Quebec’s provincial leadership has pushed to keep more of its hydro at home to provide cut-rate power to industry, or sell it to more lucrative markets in the United States. Given that reality, it’s the right decision to cancel the link to Quebec.

The original Loop project slate had an estimated $8-billion price tag. The scaled-down project – which simply involves expanding transmission between Salisbury, N.B., and Onslow, N.S. – will cost only $700 million, according to projections provided by Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg.

If a second line was added from Salisbury to Point Lepreau, it would double the cost. But it would also give New Brunswick an opportunity to expand nuclear power on the Lepreau site and sell to other Atlantic provinces, especially Nova Scotia as it weans off coal.

Our provinces need a robust and reliable power grid. As pressure builds to reduce fossil fuels in electricity production, utilities must respond with more renewables of all types, more nuclear, and a backbone of storage and switch-on natural gas plants to meet the moments of peak demand when renewable supply is limited.

Increasing interprovincial transmission capacity makes this transition easier for everyone by allowing one part of the region to sell extra power when the wind is blowing, and buy when the wind stops.

We urge utility leaders to keep their eye on the ball to deliver the projects on time and on budget, and press the federal government to step up with appropriate financing.