Wind Today - Q4 2008 - (Page 38) Analysis WindVision 2025—Powering Canada’s Future A Summary of CanWEA’s Plan During the Canadian Wind Energy Association’s (CanWEA) 24th Annual Conference and Trade Show, Oct. 19-21 in Vancouver, BC, Robert Hornung, CanWEA’s president, released the association’s new WindVision 2025—Powering Canada’s Future strategic development plan. Following is a summary of the plan’s highlights. The complete document, as well as background material, is available on CanWEA’s web site, www.canwea.ca. Canada has the 6th largest electrical system in the world, producing and distributing 600 terawatt-hours (TWh) of power annually. About 60% of Canada’s electricity comes from renewable sources, mostly hydro. Nuclear plants supply another 20%, coal provides 15%, and natural gas accounts for 5%. Many of the country’s existing power generators are wearing out or will have to be shut down for environmental reasons—15% of the country’s current generation fleet is slated for retirement from 2008 to 2025. During the same period of time, the demand for electricity in Canada is projected to increase by 36%. The Canadian electricity system needs to be expanded and changed into a system that is more sustainable, reliable, affordable, economically viable, socially acceptable, and environmentally sound. Availability Viabilit iability Wind Po The Availability and Viability of Wind Power Currently, with 1,876 megawatts (MW) of installed capac- 20% of Canada’s electricity needs could by through be met by 2025 through the addition of 55,000 MW of wind energy capacity ity, Canada ranks 16th in the world in terms of wind energy generation. The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) believes 20% of Canada’s electricity needs could be met by 2025 through the addition of 55,000 MW of wind energy capacity. This could be achieved by installing 22,000 wind turbines spread over about 450 locations, occupying a land area of about 5,500 square kilometers (approximately the size of Prince Edward Island) across Canada. The map on page 39 depicts the mean annual wind velocity at 50 meters above the ground (meters/second). It shows that Canada has enough top-quality wind power sites to meet the country’s total electrical demand by tapping the wind potential of just one quarter of one percent of its land mass. With 60% of its current electricity supply generated by hydro power, wind energy can easily be integrated into the existing system. Hydroelectric production can be adjusted to balance variability in wind energy supply; and, since wind energy peaks in the winter when water reservoirs are low, wind can fill the gap when hydroelectric plants don’t have enough water to operate at full capacity. Adv dvantages Wind Po The Advantages of Wind Power Studies released in June by Emerging Energy Research, Cambridge, MA, estimate that worldwide investment in wind power from 2008 to 2020 will amount to $800 billion to $1 trillion. Achieving the WindVision 2025 target will cost approximately $132 billion. CanWEA believes at least 60% of that Response No. 381 38 WIND TODA Y Fourth Quarter 2008 http://www.canwea.ca http://www.composotech.com http://www.composotech.com
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