Nova Scotia started down the path of energy self-sufficiency through coal many years ago and it appears the path also leads to the U.S. export market. The Nova Scotia Power Corp. has conceived a plan, called the Bluenose Project, to build a coal-fired plant ner the deep-water port of Sheet Harbour, on the province’s eastern shore. Such a p!lant would generate electricity for transmission south via high-voltage transmission lines to Yarmouth, N.S., then by submarine cable across the Gulf of Maine to Massachusetts. Although submarine cable technology is unproven, and clearing a corridor for high-voltage lines across the province could meet resistance from the public, such a far-fetched energy mega-project makes economic sense because of the high cost of developing coal-fired electric generating sites in the New England states. The project makes less sense on the environmental ledger since it would pump more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Either low-sulphur Nova Scotia coal or possibly inexpensive, low-sulphur, high-btu coal shipped in from Colombia would be burned under such a scheme.
Be the first to comment on "THE BLUENOSE PROJECT"