Canada's federal government and the Nova Scotia provincial government decided on October 15, 2026 to provide 100 million Canadian dollars to lay the groundwork for initial offshore wind development.
Energy specialist media Inspennet reported on October 16, citing the marine energy publication Offshore Wind, that this funding would be used not for direct construction of power generation facilities but for offshore meteorological observation, transmission network route surveys, and preparation for the first bidding round in winter 2027.
With the expansion of Canada's Atlantic coastal power grid, a gateway has opened for South Korean shipbuilding and marine industry players to enter the North American market, including Hanwha Ocean, which has secured pre-bid qualification.
Deployment of lidar observation buoys and accumulation of basic marine data
Canada's Department of Natural Resources has begun Phase 1 of offshore wind development. The 100 million Canadian dollars allocated this time, approximately 94.6 billion won, will be invested in securing basic meteorological and environmental data rather than civil engineering work to construct power generation facilities.
Of the total funding, 5 million Canadian dollars, approximately 4.73 billion won, will be used to deploy floating lidar buoys equipped with laser sensors. These buoys remotely measure marine conditions including wind speed and direction above the water surface and water temperature to collect baseline data for candidate power generation sites. The collected observations will later serve as key evidence for bidding companies to reduce technical uncertainty when preparing proposals.
The Canada-Nova Scotia offshore energy regulatory authority plans to compile the observation data and officially launch the first offshore wind project bidding round in winter 2027.
Quebec transmission network research and bidding framework construction
The Department of Natural Resources will provide approximately 3 million Canadian dollars, about 2.84 billion won, to the nonprofit research organization Net Zero Atlantic. This organization will expand power market analysis and evaluate transmission models to send electricity generated off the Nova Scotia coast to major demand centers such as Quebec and Ontario. Marine surveys to confirm the installation route for subsea power cables are also included.
This survey is directly linked to the Atlantic Energy Strategy referred to the federal Major Projects Management Office in September 2025. To advance Wind West, a core initiative that meets Nova Scotia's power demand and supplies surplus clean energy to other regions, grid interconnection linking onshore power networks and the sea is essential.
Tim Hodgson, Canada's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, cited the superior wind conditions in Nova Scotia waters and the skilled workforce accumulated from the offshore oil and gas drilling industry as regional competitive advantages.
Competition in marine infrastructure technology and grid interconnection risks
Canada's first offshore wind bidding process began with pre-qualification screening starting in October 2025. The regulatory authority completed the screening in June 2026 and confirmed seven qualified companies and consortiums.
Five companies participated individually: Belgium's DEME and Jan De Nul, Canada's Northland Power, China's Ming Yang Smart Energy, and Britain's Simply Blue Energy. Two consortiums were formed: the DP Energy alliance and the Hanwha Ocean and Q Energy France alliance.
The North Atlantic waters feature rough waves and deep depths, requiring advanced marine engineering capabilities in floating substructures and offshore substations. The South Korean shipbuilding industry, with its large-scale marine plant manufacturing capacity and experience in building offshore wind installation vessels, has created an opportunity to enter the North American value chain through consortium participation. However, the project is currently in the feasibility study stage and no specific contract size has been disclosed.
If the cost of building a wide-area transmission network to send Nova Scotia offshore power to Quebec or Ontario increases significantly and cost-sharing negotiations between provincial governments face difficulties, project momentum could weaken. If transmission approval is delayed, the 2027 bidding schedule could also be pushed back. Whether the main bidding announcement and transmission approval proceed without disruption following this fund execution will be a key checkpoint determining how the project unfolds.
Original Korean article: Global Economic
English brief by Korea Wind Intelligence, koreawindintel.com
KWI developer profile — Hanwha Ocean
4 projects in Korea totalling 1,730 MW. Compiled from the KWI database. Not part of the source article.
Sinan Ui Offshore Wind
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ChilHae 1 Offshore Wind
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ChilHae 2 Offshore Wind
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Boryeong Nokdo Offshore Wind
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Project data: KWI database — Electricity Business Licence records, EIA filings (ME2021C012, ME2026C003, ME2026C014), Electricity Regulatory Commission minutes, and pre-EBL permit filings.
