Canada - CanWEA releases its strategic wind power development plan

The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) today released its bold strategic vision for wind energy development during its 24th Annual Conference and Trade Show in Vancouver. The plan, entitled Wind Vision 2025 – Powering Canada’s Future, argues that Canada can and must ensure that wind energy supplies 20 per cent of the country’s demand by 2025, bringing total Canadian wind-energy capacity to 55,000 MW.

This target would generate $79 billion (CDN) of investment in Canada by 2025 and would make the Canadian wind-power sector a major player in an international wind-energy market valued at $1.8 trillion. Development on this scale would also have a major impact on the economy, creating 52,000 full-time jobs — many of them in rural areas — accounting for $165 million in revenue per year for Canadian municipalities. The strategy states that increased wind-energy production would stabilize electricity rates for Canadians, ensure a diversity of supply and reduce Canada’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by 17 megatonnes annually.

CanWEA is also releasing results of a national poll undertaken by The Strategic Council, which finds that Canadians support development in wind energy. “The results from The Strategic Council survey show that 87% of Canadians support the 20 per cent by 2025 wind-energy vision,” said CanWEA President Robert Hornung. “We have the potential, the ability, and the support of Canadians, what we now need is government to step up and come to the table with a regulatory environment that streamlines and aids the development process.”

CanWEA is asking federal and provincial governments to quickly implement policies and programs that will address some of the current roadblocks to the development of Canada’s wind-energy potential. The industry is asking government to assign fair value to the positive environmental impacts of wind energy, that the wind-energy procurement process be improved, that steps be taken to encourage the production of wind turbines in Canada, that transmission infrastructure be planned and built taking wind energy into consideration, and, finally, that the process for granting and approving permits for wind energy projects be streamlined.

CanWEA is the voice of the wind power industry in Canada. It works on behalf of its 400 members to facilitate and promote the responsible and sustainable growth of wind energy across the country. Wind energy is an important component of Canada’s energy future, bringing new investment and employment while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. CanWEA’s annual Conference and Trade Show is being held in Vancouver Oct. 19—22.