The Point Aconi Generating Station is situated on the shores of the Cabot Strait at the northeastern tip of Boularderie Island, located approximately 2 km (1.2 mi) west of the headland named Point Aconi and 2 km (1.2 mi) east of the headland named Table Head.

The facility is able to produce 165 MW and, unlike the vast majority of Canadian coal-fired power plants, uses Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) to reduce emissions of NOx and SO2.

The Seaboard Generating Station opened in Glace Bay in 1931 by Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation and was the sole supplier of electricity for the Industrial Cape Breton region until its purchase by Nova Scotia Power in 1966 as part of DOSCO's ongoing asset liquidation.

The idea of replacing the aging Seaboard Generating Station was discussed during the 1980s and was an important promise by the incumbent Progressive Conservative Party led by Premier John Buchanan during the 1988 provincial election.

On April 27, 1989, Buchanan introduced a controversial amendment to the Public Utilities Act, which would remove the requirement for Nova Scotia Power to submit proposals for new generating station to the PUB.

Hearings into the Point Aconi project were cancelled after the amendment to the Public Utilities Act receiving royal assent in early June 1989.

The proposal detailed a turnkey project designed by Mitsui with the CFB steam boiler supplied by Pyro-Power through Kamtech Services (a subsidiary of Lauren Engineers & Constructors of Abilene, Texas), project management and engineering by Chicago-based Sargent & Lundy LLC, and construction of the plant itself by Jones Power Corporation.

Richie Mann, the environment critic for the official opposition Liberal Party asked at the one-day hearing, "Can you give us some evidence that this process is not an exercise in public relations, a sham?

"[3] On Friday, March 9, 1990, the provincial government announced its approval of the estimated $436 million project, even though it had already signed a contract with Mitsui two months earlier.

Minister Leefe also noted that while the use of CFB technology would reduce acid rain, it would also result in a comparatively massive increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions which was a greenhouse gas; Leefe told reporters that Nova Scotia's coal-fired plants contributed 32 per cent of the 18 million tonnes per year of CO2 emitted by the province (as of 1990).

[5] On September 20, 1990, federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Bernard Valcourt rejected a full environmental review of the project, arguing that any problems to the environment would be relatively minor.

Valcourt justified this decision by referring to a scientific report on the project conducted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans which stated that use of CFB technology could be mitigated.

Mr. Justice Andrew MacKay ruled against the application on Friday, January 18, 1991 by stating that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans acted in accordance with the law in deciding not to order a full environmental assessment of the project.

Several property owners along the proposed route rejected offers by Nova Scotia Power to purchase their land, citing the physiological effects of the electromagnetic field from transmission lines.

Additional controversy occurred when it was determined that the proposed route would disturb a great blue heron colony, which brought angry responses from members of the Mi'kmaq Nation.

258; 2000 NSCA 96; Mitsui & Co. (Point Aconi) Ltd. was removed from the Nova Scotia Registry of Joint Stock on June 23, 2003 after legal proceedings were completed.

Cameron made a surprise announcement on January 9, 1992 that his government would privatize Nova Scotia Power Corporation to remove public responsibility for the utility's $2.4 billion debt; Cameron stated that the debt had hurt the province's credit rating and that there had been allegations of political interference for setting electricity rates and decisions to build large power projects.

[16][17] After initial production issues at the Point Aconi facility were resolved, Nova Scotia Power Corporation closed and decommissioned the 65-year-old Seaboard Generating Station in 1997.

[1] The drum-type reheat CFB boiler was designed to produce 547,550 kg/h (1,207,150 lb/h) of steam (maximum continuous rating) at 12,000 kPa (1,800 psi) and 538 °C (1,000 °F).

[17] The Point Aconi Generating Station consumes 189,000 tonnes of coal and 213,000 tonnes of petroleum coke per year and currently generates approximately 6.8% of the province's electricity and produces roughly 10.07% of the province's air pollution, including hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid, hexachlorobenzene and mercury.

The primary source of coal was to be from the Prince Colliery, located 2 km (1.2 mi) east of the generating station property.