Challenges and opportunities

Wind power is starting to play an increasingly important role in Canada, since much of our country’s green power generation is derived from wind. Market research shows that many consumers will purchase renewable power even if it costs somewhat more than conventional power. Still, industry says Canada continues to lag behind other countries in the development and use of wind power.

Future growth of the industry will be shaped by different challenges and opportunities:

• cost competitiveness
  Wind energy is increasingly cost-competitive with conventional generating technologies. Greater efficiencies (from larger turbines) and improved technology continue to drive cost down. Wind energy can be installed on a modular basis and has no fuel cost. And, as environmental costs are increasingly factored into the costs of conventional generating technologies, the cost of wind energy becomes less and less of an obstacle to deployment.
  
  
• variable nature of wind power
  Wind power is a variable resource, providing electricity only when the winds are blowing. Wind speeds vary by the time of day, season and even from one year to the next. This variable nature means that wind power is not a solution to all our energy needs and must play a supporting role in a larger electricity network.
  
  
• transmission issues
  Transmission capacity and access are becoming major obstacles to the development of wind power resources. Often the best resources for wind farms are in remote locations, distant from power grids and far from cities where electricity is heavily used. So the development of wind farms often requires the need for new or expanded transmission facilities.
  
  
• environmental concerns
  Although wind turbines are a relatively clean means of producing electricity, compared with other conventional power plants, there are environmental impacts. There has been some concern over the noise produced by rotor blades, visual impacts, and the interaction of birds and wind turbines. Most of these problems have been greatly reduced or eliminated by improved technology, siting guidelines and environmental monitoring. For more information, see wind power and the environment.
  
  
• land use issues
  In some cases, proposed wind developments may create land use conflicts. For example, proposed wind power projects near populated areas may face opposition from local residents who regard wind turbines as unsightly and noisy.
  
  
• new economic incentives needed
  In the last two decades, improvements in wind turbine design and technology have reduced the costs of wind power by more than half. Still, the growth of wind power in Canada remains limited. This is due, in large part, to the presence of abundant, low-cost, competing sources of conventional electricity supply in the country. Wind power developers argue that new government economic incentives and policies are needed to “level the playing field” and help wind power to compete with other fuel sources in the electricity market. They say that increased government incentives are needed to encourage the development of significant amounts of wind power.