It’s the Prairie Provinces that will lead Canada’s renewable energy capacity growth over the next three years, as per Canada Energy Regulator (CER).
CER’s recent report – Canada’s Renewable Power – offers a short-term outlook for renewable electricity capacity in each Canadian province and territory to 2023, with interactive visuals that compare regions and electricity sources across the country.
Highlights from the report include:
- Alberta and Saskatchewan’s grid will increase thanks to an increase in wind and solar capacity and a decreased reliance on coal,
- Manitoba will “strengthen its position as a prominent hydro producer in Canada,”
- New large-scale hydro, wind, and solar projects will push the share of renewables in Canada’s electricity mix to 71% of installed capacity in 2023, and
- While the pace of overall renewable energy growth is expected to slow nationally between 2021 and 2023, it will grow in provinces that rely largely on fossil fuels.
Canada is a world leader in renewable power and generates roughly two-thirds of its electricity from renewables (predominantly hydro), with demand expected to grow as Canada moves to a lower-carbon economy. CER anticipates that the speed of renewable power’s growth beyond 2023 will be affected by technological developments, consumer preferences, and government policies and programs.
Read the full press release here.