Canada is expected to have a record year for new wind installations in 2011, with 1,338 megawatts (MW) of capacity coming online. The country has been lagging in wind, only installing 690 MW in 2010.
This near doubling of capacity in 2011 represents almost $3.5 billion in new investment, creating over 13,500 person years of employment for the industry, says the Canada Wind Energy Association (CanWEA).
Ontario, where most of the country’s wind capacity is, is also leading this year, adding another 500 MW. Over the next eight years, wind development there is expected to create over 80,000 person years of employment and attract more than $16 billion in private sector investment.
Besides Ontario, seven other Canadian provinces commissioned new wind farms this year.
By the end of this year, Canada’s total wind capacity will surpass 5,300 MW, enough to power 1.5 million homes a year. In 2001, total installed wind capacity was only 198 MW, CanWEA notes.
Another 6,000 MW of wind projects are in the pipeline for the next five years. However, "Maintaining that position will require continued commitments to aggressive targets for wind energy development and a stable policy framework," warns Robert Horning, President of CanWEA.
Canada currently ranks ninth in the world for installed wind capacity, way behind the leaders, China, US and Germany. Worldwide, wind has rebounded from a weak 2010, adding 18,405 MW of capacity in the first six months of 2011, according to the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA).
The U.S. wind industry now totals 42,432 MW of cumulative wind capacity, led by Texas, which has over 25% of that total. 2,151 MW was added in the first half of 2011.
Project activity and orders for 2013 and beyond are scant, because of the lack of a predictable business environment (no energy policy, no dependable incentives), causing layoffs and even bankruptcies in American manufacturing plants and the supply chain, says the American Wind Energy Society (AWEA).
Here’s a list of wind farms and federal and provincial initiatives in Canada:
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