January 27, 2016 – Nova Scotia Power (NSP) says it has achieved a new record in renewable energy in 2015, with 26.6% of the electricity used by Nova Scotians coming from renewable resources.

NSP says its performance on renewable energy exceeded the legislated 2015 requirement of 25% renewable electricity, and positions the company well to meet the 40% renewable requirement for 2020. As recently as 2007, only 9% of Nova Scotia’s electricity was renewable, the company adds. Also by 2020, NSP says it will have reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 25%.

“We have made remarkable progress in Nova Scotia,” says Mark Sidebottom, vice-president of Power Generation and Delivery for NSP. “No other utility in Canada has made this rapid of a transition. In 2020, we will have a greater percentage of our electricity coming from renewables than Germany, which is often recognized as a world leader in renewable energy.”

The company says it is also stabilizing power rates; for most customers, rates did not increase in 2015, and have gone down in 2016.

Nova Scotia’s growth in renewable electricity has been largely through the development of wind power, NSP notes, as there are now 294 commercial wind turbines—most are independently owned—producing electricity in the province. The company says the Maritime Link, delivering hydroelectricity from Muskrat Falls, will also help push NSP to more than 40% renewable electricity by 2020.