Canadian Wind Energy doubles capacity

The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CWEA) just released that 239 megawatts (MW) of wind energy capacity was created in 2005, up from 122MW in 2004. Robert Hornung, president of the CWEA, says that a MINIMUM of 500MW are slated to be established for 2006. As this map shows, there is much wind energy potential along the western and eastern coastlines of Canada. Canada is currently ranked 14th in global wind production, with 682MW installed as of January 2006.

In comparison, the US installed 2500MW in 2005, with 3000MW slated for 2006. 9149MW are currently installed. Canada is installing turbines at a greater velocity than the United States, but are obviously far behind compared to the US and others, like Spain and Germany.

Across the globe wind installation has ramped up considerably, primarily due to the price of gas, which makes wind energy a viable alternative at these prices. Still, if you take away the government-sponsored incentives that are compiled into the cost structure of these projects the return isn't attractive for widespread investment.

CWEA website: www.canwea.ca
American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) website: www.awea.org