Towards a Renewable and Sustainable Energy Future
Renewable Energies Working Together

8.2.04

Pierre Fortin, Executive Director, Canadian Hydropower Association (CHA)
Rob McMonagle, Executive Director, Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA)
Robert Hornung, President, Canadian Wind Energy Association

How can the world meet its 21st century energy needs while protecting the environment? This is the task before us, and only with affordable and environmentally sound energy can we maintain our quality of life and develop our economies.

This can be achieved with the implementation of energy efficiency and conservation measures, and also the sustainable development of clean and renewable energy sources such as solar power, wind energy, and hydropower.

But to achieve the transition from a largely fossil-fuel based world energy mix to a more sustainable and renewable energy scenario, we must have a comprehensive long-term renewable energy strategy. Such a strategy would take into account economic, social and environmental aspects, would look at energy needs and available potential at national and regional levels, and would build on the potential synergies of different energy sources.

For example, a comprehensive energy strategy would consider the following. As the production of electricity from intermittent sources of green power increases, the need for complementary energy storage systems will also increase. This we know. We also know that in countries like Germany and Denmark, wind power is complemented primarily by baseload production of fossil-fuel generated electricity. Given the environmental degradation caused by the burning of fossil fuels, we neither want nor need this solution for Canada. Because hydropower is low emitting, clean, and renewable, as well as uniquely flexible, it is the best source to support the development of renewables such as wind and solar.

With renewable energies working together, what might a sustainable energy future look like? In Canada today, hydropower supplies close to 60 percent of current electricity production, and wind and solar less than 1 percent -- but the potential for development is enormous. We estimate the technical potential of wind power to be approximately 50,000 MW, solar power 70,000 MW, and hydropower 118,000 MW. I think we need to rethink these potential numbers. Wind has much more than 50,000 MW of potential…..we say 50,000 because the much larger number has not been quantified and 50,000 represents about 20% of electricity supply – a level we feel an intermittent source can easily meet without imposing huge costs on the system. I would suggest that solar, as another intermittent source, needs to consider a similar constraint.

A Renewable Energy Strategy

Sustainable development, whether local or global, demands an increase in the use of all renewable energies. While it is important to set targets for the development of renewables such as wind and solar, it is equally important to recognize that hydropower, be it large or small, run-of-river or storage, is a renewable energy source. .

Canada needs to develop a formal comprehensive strategy for the future development of all renewables, addressing their needs and including appropriate incentives for each renewable source of energy.

For example, some renewable energy technologies require additional investment for more research and development before they can be commercialized. Others have been on the market for decades but are currently facing difficulties at remaining competitive due to the rising cost of environmental impact assessment requirements and very high capital costs.

A national renewable energy strategy would require all energy technologies to be evaluated on a life-cycle basis, for a better accounting of their positive and negative environmental aspects. This national strategy would also build on the synergies of renewables by including in assessments an analysis of the complementary nature of renewables. Moreover, affordability would be redefined: the hidden health, environmental and social costs of fossil-fuel based energy should be reflected in the market price.

New assessment criteria, new energy technologies, new synergies, new environmental issues, all of this calls for a central coordinating mechanism within government devoted to the development and deployment of renewable electricity sources. Such a mechanism can ensure that all renewable energy sources receive appropriate federal government support and incentives to pursue healthy development.

The development of renewable energies would not only reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, leading to fewer greenhouse gas emissions, making for cleaner air, and energy price stability, but it would also generate new jobs in a wide range of sectors such as research, manufacturing, and installation. In this way, Canada could continue its tradition of being a world leader in energy expertise. To reach this future, renewable energies, with good governance, must continue working together. So we will.

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