Canada - 2005 already a record year for wind energy industry

Canada's wind energy industry has already broken its annual growth record in 2005 and is set to shatter it before the year is out. As of June 2005, Canada had installed 126 MW of new wind energy capacity, breaking the existing record of 122 MW established in 2004. Close to 200 additional MW of new wind energy capacity is expected to be installed in Canada before the end of 2005. Canada currently has 570 MW of installed wind energy capacity, enough to power more than 200,000 homes. "With Canada's installed wind energy capacity expected to grow by close to 70% this year, 2005 will be remembered as the start of Canada's wind energy boom", says Robert Hornung, President of the Canadian Wind Energy Association. "Over the next five years, federal and provincial government policies and targets are on track to facilitate a ten-fold increase in the size of Canada's wind energy industry."

Projects already installed this year include the Pubnico Point Wind farm in Nova Scotia and the Mont Copper and Mont Miller Windfarms in Quebec. In addition, wind energy projects are either under construction, or will begin construction this year, in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick. "In addition to their environmental benefits, wind energy developments are also providing lease income to landowners, tax revenues to municipal governments, and creating investment and jobs in rural communities across Canada", says Hornung. "For example, three new facilities are currently under construction in Quebec alone to manufacture wind turbine towers and blades and to assemble wind turbine components." "While the growth we are seeing is significant, wind energy continues to develop more quickly in other countries", says Hornung. "With Canada's unparalleled wind resource, we can still do more to maximize the environmental, economic and industrial development benefits associated with wind energy."