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Canada: Wind energy to Canada

2011/03/16

Trends and opportunities

The market

As of December 2008, wind power supplies approximately one per cent of Canada's electricity demand, with 85 wind farms representing approximately 2,550MW of generating capacity – enough to power over 680,000 homes. Canada’s wind resource is well distributed in rural areas throughout the country with various wind farms in operation, and more under construction.

Canada’s massive hydroelectric resource, which provides 60 per cent of Canada’s electricity, is an excellent complement for wind energy and provides an opportunity to integrate more wind energy into the system than is the case in many other countries.

The Canadian Wind Energy Association has outlined a future plan for wind energy (Wind Vision 2025) that aims to reach a capacity of 55,000MW by 2025, meeting 20 per cent of the country’s energy needs. It’ll create over 50,000 jobs and represent CDN$165 million annual revenue. It will make Canada a major player in the wind power sector creating roughly CDN$79 billion of investment. It’s estimated to save 17 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

The wind energy industry in Canada is currently composed of approximately 150 companies made up of manufactures, developers, distributors, suppliers and consultants.

Research and investment

Canada is furthering its wind energy deployment with the use of strong domestic and imported technology, component manufacturing, and reliable service capabilities. In terms of potential investment, Canada has expertise in the following areas, which Australia may benefit from or complement:

Large-scale wind turbine tower, base frame and rotor blade manufacturing (for example: Hitachi Canadian Industries who is developing the wind turbine towers for SaskPower’s Centennial wind farm).
Electric inverter, power conditioning equipment and large-scale battery storage.
Harsh climate wind turbine research and applications.
Wind resource assessment and mapping expertise.
Wind farm planning, financing and development expertise.
Utility-scale wind farm operation and management expertise.
Small (10-60kW range) wind turbine manufacturing.
Design, installation and integration of wind generation systems for isolated, and off-grid hybrid system applications.

In anticipation of Wind Vision 2025, Australian wind energy firms are already setting up operations in Canada. For example, Windlab Systems is a global wind energy development company established in 2003 with an office in Calgary, Alberta. They focus on identifying, securing and developing sites using their world-leading wind mapping technology. Macquarie Power Management Ltd. has invested in the Erie Shores Wind Farm located in Port Burwell, Ontario.

Opportunities

Canada’s large land mass and lengthy coastlines give it one of the world’s best wind resource advantages. Northern Quebec alone has enough wind resource to produce 40 per cent of Canada's electricity needs.

Canadian wind power growth is fuelled by federal and provincial subsidies, as well as renewable targets set by provincial utilities. Many provincial governments have directed their government owned utilities to purchase renewable wind or other renewable power from IPPs through:

Competitive requests for proposals
The implementation of renewable portfolio standards
Standard offer contracts that are typically less than 10MW in size

The table below highlights a province-by-province wind industry outlook in which an estimated potential of 7,500+ MW is still available to reach 15,000MW by 2015. (Source: Scotia Capital: Alternative & Renewable Energy Report, p217.)

Source: Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA)
Province	Initiative	2015E Wind Capacity (MW)	July 2008 Installed Capacity (MW)	July 2008 Under Capacity Under Development (MW)	Current Opportunity (MW)
British Columbia	90 per cent of new capacity from clean renewables	3,940	0	269	3,617
Alberta	900MW wind capacity cap removed, transmission upgrades could accommodate 3,000MW	2,000	524	156	1,320
Saskatchewan	5 per cent electricity demand from wind energy by 2015	200	171	25	4
Manitoba	1,000MW of wind by 2015	1,000	104	0	896
Ontario	10 per cent renewables by 2010, of which 80 per cent likely wind capacity	2,300	501	1,489	309
Quebec	4,000MW of wind capacity by 2015	4,000	422	2,999	579
New Brunswick	400MW of wind capacity by 2016	400	0	309	91
Nova Scotia	20 per cent renewables by 2013, of which 80 per cent likely wind capacity	600	59	124	417
Prince Edward Island	~60MW by 2010, 100 per cent by 2015	410	72	79	258
Newfoundland	150MW of wind capacity (no timeline)	150	0	51	99
		15,000	1,855	5,501

More specific opportunities for companies include:

In design, engineering and testing of modern large wind turbines.
Turbine technology licensors willing to transfer competitive tech to Canada.
Offering manufacturing capabilities for large die-castings and automation in metal fabrication.
Supply of engineers/technicians in wind turbine assembly and component manufacturing.
Test facilities for large wind turbines and their components.

Related opportunities:

Alberta Wind Energy Corporation and Dublin-based Mainstream Renewable Power are constructing two wind farms near Pincher Creek Alberta at the cost of $840 million in a joint venture.
Alberta’s electric power system is proposing a $1.38 billion investment to add up to five times as much wind power capacity to the provincial grid over the 10 years.
Sequoia Energy Inc. is planning to build the largest wind mill farm in Manitoba in the southern part of the province near the cities of Brandon and Portage la Prairie.
In 2008, the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA), a non-profit trade association, outlined a future strategy for wind energy that would reach a capacity of 55,000MW by 2025, fulfilling 20 per cent of the country’s energy needs.

(Last updated: 27 May 2009)

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