HALIFAX — Development of Canada’s first offshore wind farms advanced late Friday after the Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator announced the companies and consortiums that have qualified to bid for seabed licences off Nova Scotia, marking the next stage in a process intended to establish the country’s inaugural offshore wind projects.
The prequalified bidders will be eligible to compete in a formal call for bids that the regulator has said will be launched later this year. The initiative forms part of a broader federal-provincial effort to establish an offshore wind industry in Nova Scotia, where governments have designated four offshore wind energy areas and set an initial objective of licensing up to five gigawatts of offshore wind generation in the first round.
According to the regulator, five individual companies and two business consortiums consented to having their names released following a prequalification review conducted between October 2025 and January 2026. The regulator said applicants were assessed against financial, technical, legal and social criteria before being approved to participate in the bidding process.
The companies identified are Belgium-based DEME Concessions Wind N.V., China-based Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd., Toronto-based Northland Power Inc., Ireland-based Simply Blue Energy (OSW) Ltd., and Luxembourg-based Jan De Nul N.V. The approved consortiums comprise DP Energy Canada Ltd., Enterprize Energy Atlantic Pte. Ltd., Nova East Wind Inc. and SBM Renewables Holding SA, as well as Hanwha Ocean Co. Ltd. and Q ENERGY France SAS.
The Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator said successful applicants could choose whether to make their qualification public, meaning additional approved participants may remain confidential at this stage.
The first phase of development is expected to focus on offshore parcels in Sydney Bight, northeast of Cape Breton in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, along with three additional areas off Nova Scotia’s eastern mainland coast. Provincial planning documents envision the longer-term offshore wind program eventually supporting up to 40 gigawatts of electricity generation by 2050.
In a statement outlining the province’s offshore wind strategy earlier this year, the Government of Nova Scotia said the regulator’s prequalification process would inform the design of the upcoming bidding round. The province has also signed an agreement with Massachusetts to cooperate on offshore wind energy and infrastructure as it seeks to expand export opportunities for renewable electricity.
The regulator said the next confirmed step is the formal call for bids for seabed licences later this year, after which proposed awards will be subject to review by federal and provincial ministers before licences are issued.
