Environmental Engineering Reference
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100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Private
Public
Figure 8.1 . Public and Private Electricity Generation by Canadian Province
Source : Statistics Canada. 2009. Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution , edited by Ministry of
Industry: Government of Canada.
8.3 HISTORY OF WIND POWER DEVELOPMENT IN CANADA
Wind power development in Canada is a comparatively recent phenome-
non, lagging behind many of the advanced wind power nations by about
a decade. In 2000, when installed wind capacity in Germany breached the
6000 MW plateau, installed wind power capacity in Canada amounted to
only 137 MW. However, as Table  8.3 outlines, by the end of 2012 there
was 6,201 MW of installed wind power capacity in Canada, putting Canada
ninth in the world in total installed wind power capacity. 31 In the past ive
years alone, installed capacity has tripled.
Table 8.4 breaks down the total amount of installed wind power capacity
by province as of the end of 2012, and illustrates how disparate the pace of
development has been between provinces. he top three provinces for wind
power are Ontario (2,043 MW), Québec (1,349 MW), and Alberta (1,116
MW). In aggregate, these three provinces host 73% of national installed
wind power capacity. 32
In 2002, the federal government launched the Wind Power Production
Initiative (WPPI), which ofered a comparatively small inancial subsidy of
C$0.012 per generated kWh for projects approved between April 1, 2002
and March 31, 2003; C$0.01 per kWh for projects approved between April
1, 2003 and March 31, 2006; and C$0.008 per kWh for projects approved
between April 1, 2006 and March 31, 2007. As Table 8.3 suggests, this pol-
icy had minor impact on the pace of wind power development.
 
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