Today Canada’s wind energy leaders kicked off their annual spring forum to explore trends and opportunities for an industry that, in the coming years, is expected to attract billions of dollars in investment to this province while creating thousands of jobs.
As of the end of 2017, Canada had 6,415 wind turbines totaling more than 12,239 MW of installed capacity. It is home to the ninth largest wind-generating fleet in the world.
Recent research suggests that between today and 2030, the wind industry will bring investment of $8.3 billion in wind energy projects in Alberta as developers — in partnership with landowners and communities — work to build a network of new facilities to reliably, responsibly, and cost-effectively deliver the clean power that the province needs.
The Canadian Wind Energy Association’s (CanWEA) Spring Forum 2018 will delve into these Alberta opportunities, and similar prospects in Saskatchewan, as the two provinces work to replace coal-fired generation with cleaner alternatives. The Forum will also address consultation and partnership with Indigenous communities, as well as new energy services wind energy can provide to the grid.
“Wind energy’s major cost declines have, and will continue to be, critical to opening up new opportunities throughout Canada – whether it is to support the coal phase-out, or to fill an emerging power supply gap as nuclear power plants are refurbished in Ontario, or to help the northeast United States reduce its reliance on fossil-fuel powered generation through clean electricity imports from Quebec or Atlantic Canada,” said CanWEA President, Robert Hornung.
He added: “Looking ahead, our challenge is to expand the range of products and services provided by wind energy to support the electricity grid.”
Speakers and panelists at the Spring Forum will also take a closer look at political perceptions of wind energy and examine the close alignment of wind energy with values and priorities across all political stripes. This includes a keynote luncheon address by the leader of the Conservative Energy Network on day two of the Forum.
This coalition of U.S organizations is working to change the politics of clean energy in that country by highlighting the alignment between renewable power production and conservative values.
“System planners and operators can draw on a wide range of tools and approaches to ensure stable and reliable bulk electricity grids with high levels of wind energy penetration,” said Jason MacDowell, Director of Industry and Policy, GE Energy Consulting and Keynote Luncheon Speaker. “Today, wind energy makes substantial contributions to grid reliability by supporting voltage and frequency as good as, and sometimes better than, any power plant on the grid. Experience in other countries clearly demonstrates that Canada has the potential to bring significantly more wind energy on line in the years ahead.”
CanWEA’s Spring Forum runs today and tomorrow at the Westin Calgary.
Filed Under: News, Policy
