John Risley is pitching a massive buildout to link Atlantic wind to major power markets. In an interview published Dec. 31, he described an Eastern Energy Partnership that would combine new wind farms with more transmission so electricity can move across the region and into central Canada and the northeastern United States.
The concept shifts Atlantic Canada’s green energy story from single projects to a grid plan. It is a national‑scale idea with a regional face. It is also a long haul.
Wind to wires, not only hydrogen
Clean Grid Atlantic frames the Eastern Energy Partnership as a clean‑power corridor that connects onshore and offshore wind to reinforced regional interties, with exports riding on those lines when the system has surplus power. The pitch centres on turning Atlantic wind into dependable supply for neighbours, not just a local resource, and it places transmission at the core of that ambition.
Project Nujio’qonik, the Newfoundland and Labrador venture led by partners linked to Risley, cleared the province’s environmental review on April 9, 2024, a key step that keeps its large wind build on the table as a flexible supply source for the grid or future fuels.
The plan’s thrust is clear, build wind where it is strongest and add lines where they are weakest. As Risley put it, “We have two exceptional resources,” pointing to onshore wind in Newfoundland and offshore wind off Nova Scotia.
Clean Grid Atlantic describes the corridor as one of the early files under Ottawa’s Major Projects Office, a signal that the federal process matters as much as provincial permits. The emphasis on interties is practical, an intertie is a high‑voltage connection between power systems that lets electricity move where demand is strongest or prices are highest. Tying the region together also creates space for storage and flexible generation to backstop winter peaks. It is the glue between new supply and steady service. The pitch is regional, the customers could be national.
Enablers, costs and timelines
Policy levers already in play help. The federal government backed Nujio’qonik’s early development in February 2024 through an Export Development Canada credit agreement, and Ottawa has said clean electricity projects of national interest will get priority attention.
That matters because the Eastern Energy Partnership leans on public‑private coordination and, in places, rate‑regulated assets that must pass utility board review. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are also moving on a second reliability tie, a 345‑kilovolt line that twins the existing corridor and gives both grids more room to move power when it is windy. Those steps reduce curtailment risk for new wind and increase the odds the region can move surplus to market.
Money is the other test. Risley sizes the corridor, wind and wires together, at about C$75 billion. That range will depend on final routes, offshore rules, Indigenous partnerships, and how far the corridor extends toward Quebec and Ontario. Upfront costs are steep, but they buy transmission that lasts for decades and unlocks private capital into generation.
“We are committed to reaching net‑zero emissions by 2050,” Mary Ng said, adding that hydrogen and clean power can support jobs in Atlantic Canada.
Risley’s team is trying to turn overlapping threads into a single build plan. The corridor would give Emera’s Nova Scotia Power, NB Power, and Hydro‑Québec more options to balance peaks, and it could anchor future offshore wind rounds. Atlantic wind has the scale, the corridor decides its value.
