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Prince Edward Island’s primary energy resource is wind. There is some potential for natural gas and coalbed methane, but neither have been developed to date.
The province produces electricity from wind power, and has fossil fuel generation for times of peak load; however, more than 80 percent of its electricity is obtained from New Brunswick via cables under Northumberland Strait.
In 2010, the utilities industry in Prince Edward Island accounted for about 3 per cent of the province’s gross domestic product. PEI Energy Corporation, a crown corporation owned by the province, generated $4.9 million in net income in 2009.
Approximately 300 people were employed in the utilities industry in Prince Edward Island in 2009.
Discover the key energy facts about Prince Edward Island.
By the numbers (1MB PDF)
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Natural Gas
Although Prince Edward Island has no current hydrocarbon production, exploratory drilling indicates some potential for natural gas.
Twenty wells were drilled between 1944 and 2007, with one well off North Point in the extreme eastern part of the province testing 5.5 million cubic feet per day.
Prince Edward Island is underlain by substantial coal measures. These are too deep to be mined, but the coalbed methane potential is estimated at 215 billion cubic feet.
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Wind
Prince Edward Island has 9 wind farms with combined installed capacity of 166.6 megawatts.
The largest is the West Cape Wind Farm Phases One and Two which consists of 55 turbines with a combined installed capacity of 99 megawatts.
The City of Summerside built a four-turbine wind farm that provides up to 25 per cent of the city’s electricity needs.
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Thermal Electricity Generation
As well as the electricity obtained from New Brunswick, Maritime Electric operates two generating stations. The Charlottetown Thermal Generating Station has five fossil fuel fired units with a combined installed capacity of 60 megawatts. It also has a diesel-fired combustion turbine with an installed capacity of 49 megawatts. The Borden Generating Station has two diesel-fired combustion turbines with combined installed capacity of 40 megawatts.
The City of Summerside generates electricity with a 10 megawatt diesel turbine.
A 72 megawatt district energyfacility in Charlottetown burns both wood waste and municipal solid waste.
Thermal electricity facilities can generate power several different ways, including natural gas (represented by circles on the map), oil/diesel generation (squares), coal (triangles) and biomass (diamonds).
