Nova Scotia Power is planning to overhaul generating equipment at the iconic Tufts Cove power station on the edge of Halifax harbour.

This week, the Nova Scotia Energy Board approved the utility’s plan to repair one of the plant’s gas turbine engines for just under $19 million and replace another for about $24 million, bringing the total project cost to around $43 million.

The Tufts Cove station, built in the 1960s, originally ran on coal and heavy fuel oil, but it’s now powered by natural gas. Its three tall candy-cane-striped smokestacks in Dartmouth can be seen from many parts of Halifax Regional Municipality.

The plant has three engines, running two at a time with the third held in reserve as a spare. According to Nova Scotia Power’s submissions to the regulator, two of the engines are over 20 years old and past their prime.

One engine was inspected in 2024 and the utility found it needed “major component replacement and refurbishment.” It took that engine out of operation.

Last year, following an inspection of another engine, the utility determined “that continued long-term operation would pose a significant risk of catastrophic failure and collateral damage.”

Cost jumped

Nova Scotia Power first pitched the projects to the energy board in 2024. At that time, the utility estimated the engine repair would cost $6 million.

The company said that’s because the earlier estimate was made before the engine was disassembled for third-party inspection. After that was done, the project scope changed significantly.

The energy board attached two conditions to its approval because of concerns that Nova Scotia Power was not proactive enough in maintaining the machines or foreseeing the need to overhaul and replace them.

The board ordered Nova Scotia Power to provide more evidence in any future applications related to this type of engine. And it ordered the company to submit a third-party engineering report on its operational practices for the engines.

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