The Nova Scotia Community Feed-in Tariff (COMFIT) program was designed to encourage community-based, local renewable energy projects by guaranteeing a rate per kilowatt-hour for the energy the project feeds into the province’s distribution electrical grid. Through COMFIT, community groups, non-profit entities, universities, municipalities and first nation groups were able to supply renewable electricity directly to the local distribution grid in their community.
COMFIT has been successful in broadening Nova Scotia’s base of renewable electricity ownership and supporting community investment in electricity projects. It increased the renewable energy on Nova Scotia’s electrical grid by 5% (about 120 MW). COMFIT comprised of just over of 20% of the renewable electricity generated in Nova Scotia in 2016.
Although community-led renewable energy is more common in Europe, the COMFIT program was the first of its kind in North America, and contributed significantly to the overall acceptance of renewable energy development in Nova Scotia. The COMFIT program has exceeded expectations both in clean energy output and in contributing to the economic development of Nova Scotian communities. The program encourages increased community support for wind power development, in particular, by enabling communities to own their own wind energy project. It also helps stimulate economic growth in communities by providing a steady source of income from electricity generation, and increased local contractor utilization. Through this program, First Nations communities in Nova Scotia will be generating more electricity than their communities use.
More information at:
More information from the Nova Scotia Government on COMFIT is Available here:
The COMFIT program was cancelled by the provincial government in 2015.
You can read about the Ecology Action Centre’s reaction to the cancellation here: https://ecologyaction.ca/press-release/COMFITcancellation
You can read the provincial government’s press release about the program and its cancellation here: