CANADIAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION
Wind industry experts identify electrification and clean energy exports as important economic and environmental opportunities for Canada

Wind industry experts identify electrification and clean energy exports as important economic and environmental opportunities for Canada

Wind energy is already central to many greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies across Canada and is poised to play an even bigger role as provinces seek cost-effective strategies to meet long-term climate change goals and the federal government prioritizes the building of a clean growth economy, industry members heard during the second day of the Canadian Wind Energy Association's (CanWEA) 32^nd Annual Conference and Exhibition at the BMO Centre.

The Honourable Catherine McKenna, the federal minister of environment and climate change, delivered a keynote luncheon address focussing on her government's efforts to tackle climate change and the critical role clean energy technologies like wind energy must play.

Complementing the Minister's address, Wednesday's program delved deep into the technical, policy and market drivers that are shaping Canada's evolving energy industry. The combination of low cost and zero emissions makes wind energy a leading source of permanent, large-scale and affordable greenhouse gas reductions. That is why wind energy is poised to play an increasingly important role as policymakers look for ways to make the deep carbon cuts needed to meet Canada's international climate obligations. Wind energy will be an important player in cleaning electricity grids in Alberta and Saskatchewan and across Canada clean electricity grids will be needed for reducing fossil fuel use in other sectors through electrification and in the United States through clean energy exports.

In addition to high-level policy discussions and market analysis, the day's conference sessions also gave delegates a chance to gain insight into the science of assessing wind as a resource, data-driven strategies to improve project performance, models of community engagement and the evolution of storage technologies.

The event's 1,600 participants took to the tradeshow floor to learn more about the technological advancements and operational innovations that continue to reduce the cost of wind energy, after already driving it down more than 60 per cent in the past six years alone, according to data from the Unites States (Lazard 2015.)

Today, CanWEA also unveiled the winners of its annual Power of Wind contest for post-secondary students.

Quotes

"As the world meets next week for the COP22 climate talks, Canada will have a chance to demonstrate the concrete steps we are taking to reduce greenhouse gases and lead the transition to a clean growth economy. We know that Canada's tremendous renewable energy resources, like wind, must be a part of the plan."
- Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Government of Canada

"Today's announcement by the federal government that it will source 100 per cent of the electricity for its operations from renewable energy provides more evidence that federal and provincial governments are accelerating their efforts to address the risks of climate change. We applaud the federal government for this new commitment and we remain confident that wind energy will continue to be a key component of Canada's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
- Robert Hornung, President, CanWEA

"CanWEA 2016 has seen a lot of interest from investors, project developers, equipment suppliers and service providers who see real opportunity in Canadian wind energy, especially as Alberta and Saskatchewan move to grow wind energy production in a big way. They came to gain market insight, make deals, forge business connections, and explore new technologies and approaches to increase their competitiveness. From the feedback we've received, the event is delivering on all their expectations."
- Larry Turner, president and CEO, Hannover Fairs

Background

• CanWEA launched its Power of Wind bursary contest five years ago to provide an avenue for post-secondary students to share their vision of wind energy's future in Canada. Thirteen submissions from this year's contest including the three bursary winners serve as the artwork for CanWEA's 2017 Friends of Wind calendar, on sale now.
• Canada currently has more than 11,200 MW of wind energy, the seventh largest wind generating fleet in the world. More wind energy has been built in Canada over the last five years than any other form of electricity generation, with installed capacity growing by an average of 23 per cent a year over that time frame. To learn more, please visit the Wind Markets section of CanWEA's website.
• CanWEA's recently released Pan-Canadian Wind Integration Study demonstrates that provinces across Canada can reliably integrate the large amounts of renewable energy required to meet climate change goals.
• CanWEA 2016 event website: www.windenergyevent.ca. Download the mobile app by searching CanWEA2016 in the App Store and Google Play.