2016
Traditional Energy & Generation
Robin McAdam headshot
Clean50 Award Logo

Robin McAdam

Vice President, Major Developments, Emera

Robin was instrumental in implementing a major renewable energy program to help Nova Scotia reduce its historical heavy reliance on coal generation and to achieve its target of 40% renewable generation by 2020. This represents among the fastest rate of change to cleaner generation amongst North American utilities. The various initiatives Robin led include the addition of large-scale wind farms and a 60 MW biomass generation facility, a partnership with Nissan Canada to promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs) and a plan to convert high-pressure sodium streetlights in the province to LED technology. Under Robin’s leadership, Nova Scotia Power implemented on-bill financing for efficient air-source heat pumps for customers. So far, 10,000 heat pumps have been successfully installed through this program. Thanks to his contributions, Nova Scotia Power reduced its use of coal by 15.3%, and increased wind and biomass energy by 7% and 3% respectively. These efforts played an important role in Nova Scotia’s ongoing move away from fossil fuels.