Companies are fighting for the right to supply green energy to Nova Scotians with competing plans to build wind farms.
It's all part of the province's goal of having 25 per cent of the province's electricity generated through renewable forms of energy by 2015.
At the moment, Nova Scotia is heavily dependent on burning coal, a fossil fuel widely considered bad for the environment.
On Thursday, the owner of a Pictou County wind farm asked the province for environmental approvals for a large expansion to its existing operation.
Shear Wind Inc. has submitted a plan to the provincial Environment Department for the proposed second phase of its Glen Dhu project at Barneys River.
The Bedford company wants to add an additional 26 to 34 wind turbines to that site. The expansion has not yet been approved by the province.
The details of a large wind farm in Lunenburg County were also announced Thursday, with three of the province's biggest companies teaming up for the South Canoe Wind Project: Minas Basin Pulp and Power, Oxford Frozen Foods and Nova Scotia Power.
John Woods, the vice-president of energy development for Minas Basin Pulp and Power, said in a phone interview from Hantsport that the project will consist of 33 to 50 turbines.
"That depends on the technology that we choose," Woods told CBC News.
"The project will be built on Minas Basin Holdings and we have 14,000 acres of property so it would be built entirely within our own boundaries."
In July, the government appointed an independent renewable electricity administrator to oversee a call for bids from independent producers to develop large, renewable-electricity projects.
Developers can only be awarded one project under the competitive bidding process, which will be overseen by Power Advisory, based in Carlisle, Mass.
"We expect that this will be very competitive and in the end, I think, deliver a great value to this province," said Woods.
The deadline for proposals is mid-March and a winner will be announced four to six weeks later.
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