Collaboration holds key to reaping benefits of tremendous resource

The four provinces on Canada’s Atlantic coast have made impressive strides in utilizing their world-class wind energy resources.

• Prince Edward Island is the first North American jurisdiction to get approximately 28 per cent of its electricity from wind energy, with an installed capacity of 204 MW.
• Nova Scotia leads the region with 616 MW of wind energy, developed through a unique mix of ownership models that includes independent power production, utility partnerships, and community investment.
• New Brunswick has 314 MW of large-scale wind on line.
• The island of Newfoundland has 55 MW of wind, consisting of two utility-scale projects and one wind-diesel installation.

There remains significant potential to build on this strong foundation. CanWEA’s recently released Pan-Canadian Wind Integration Study (PCWIS) found the Maritimes region not only has some of the strongest wind regimes in Canada, but because of the way production correlates with periods of peak demand, it also has some of the country’s highest-value wind resources. This makes wind energy the lowest-cost option for new electricity supply in Atlantic Canada.

The region is well-positioned to export clean energy to the northeast U.S. where the looming retirement of thousands of megawatts of aging coal and nuclear plants, pending federal rules designed to cut power plant emissions, and increasingly stringent renewable energy portfolio standards have left states looking for reliable and cost-effective solutions. Replacing polluting coal generation and aging power plants in Atlantic Canada is a second avenue of potential growth.

There relatively small, fragmented electricity markets in the region makes it a challenge to integrate the potentially large amounts of wind energy these emerging sources of demand will require. Interjurisdictional co-operation, including transmission reinforcements within the provinces and new cross-border transfer capacity will be key. Fortunately, governments across the region understand this and have agreed to work together to build a clean energy future.

Wind by the numbers in Atlantic Canada (December 2018)

• 558 wind turbines
• 1,189 MW installed capacity

Learn more

• The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s The Way Forward: Building for Our Future has committed to working with industry and stakeholders to develop a renewable energy plan that is focused on creating employment opportunities and further positioning the province as an energy hub.
• Atlantic Energy Gateway Report on Regional Electricity System Operations examines how Atlantic Canada can increase regional electricity and clean renewable energy cooperation to provide cost benefits to consumers and expand economic opportunities for the region.
• PowerShift Atlantic was an award-winning, four-year research program using smart gird technologies to intelligently shift customer loads to allow a more effective integration of wind generation.
• Evaluation of Opportunities and Barriers to Wind Power Exports from the Maritimes to the US Northeast is a 2009 study examining the significant potential for the region to target wind energy export markets.
• The Canadian Wind Energy Association’s (CanWEA) Nova Scotia Wind For My Community brochure shares stories of Nova Scotia communities that are profiting from new income for rural landowners, new tax revenues, and new employment opportunities for trades people and contractors that playing host to wind energy projects provides.

Useful Links

Nova Scotia Power
Nova Scotia Department of Energy
PEI Energy Corporation
Maritime Electric
Summerside Electric
New Brunswick Power
New Brunswick Energy and Resource Development
Nalcor
Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Natural Resources
The Council of Atlantic Premiers
Atlantica Centre for Energy

CanWEA offers additional technical information and full reports to its members. Visit the members only website and browse through CanWEA’s extensive Resource Library today. Not a member? To learn more visit CanWEA’s membership page or email sales@canwea.ca.