Green Light for Higgins Mtn. Wind Farm

Cumberland Municipal Council approved the Higgins Mountain Wind Project.

Council gave second reading approval of a development agreement with Elemental Energy at a special meeting this afternoon. 

The project, covering about 9,074 acres near Higgins Mountain Road in the Wentworth Valley, allows construction of twelve industrial scale turbines — the largest ever erected in Nova Scotia — and extends south for five more turbines awaiting approval in Colchester County. 

Construction will include development of the logging road network, large site clearing foundations, and erection of the massive towers and turbines. Work is expected to take up to two years, but the company hopes to launch the operation by the end of 2025.

The development consists of five separate parcels of land, all of which have lease agreements with Higgins Mountain Wind Farm LP.

The company has committed to an annual $100 thousand grant to be distributed among not-for-profit and community organisations. The Protect Wentworth Valley Committee, which has fought for more strict regulations and further protections for wildlife, and from sound and visual pollution, argues the community grant should be raised to $400 thousand per year in keeping with the financial scale of the project.

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