Govenment Policies for Wind Power

Canada has huge reserves of fossil fuels, but the federal and provincial governments have made a strong commitment to increase the supply of clean, renewable energy. In January 2007, the Canadian government implemented the "ecoENERGY for Renewable Power" (ERP) program. The ERP program will invest $1.48 billion to increase Canada’s supply of clean electricity such as Wind. It is projected to encourage the development of enough power to provide electricity for about one million homes. The ERP program will provide an incentive of $0.01 per kWh for up to 10 years for eligible wind projects. For more details on the ERP, visit the ecoENERGY website.

In Ontario, the government announced the Standard Offer Program (SOP) in November 2006. This program provides a contract issued by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) which guarantees a fixed price for Wind Power of $0.11 per KWh for a 20 year period. This contract supplies economic certainty and stability for Wind Power projects and also demonstrates that the government is strongly encouraging Wind Power projects in Ontario. For more details on the SOP, visit the OPA website.

On Septemebr 26, 2007, the government of Alberta announced that it will eliminate its previous threshold on Wind Power. Prior to this announcement, there was a cap on Wind Power capacity in Alberta of 900 MW. For more information on the Operational Framework for Wind Integration in Alberta, visit the Alberta Electric System Operator website.