CanWEA applauds new wind procurement process in Quebec

MONTREAL, QUEBEC - The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) announced its support for the announcement to proceed with the procurement of 500 MW of new wind energy capacity in Quebec.

CanWEA also applauded the increase of the ceiling price from $0.095/kWh to $0.125/kWh in the call for tenders for the purchase of two separate blocks of 250 MW of community and First Nations wind energy projects.

Achieving the goal of providing 20 percent of the country's electricity needs with wind energy by the year 2025 will result in $79 billion in new investment, the creation of up to 52,000 new "green collar" jobs, and more than $165 million in new revenues for municipalities, many in rural areas hit hard by traditional resource declines.

CanWEA and its membership had argued in the past that the original proposed pricing of $0.095/kWh was not sufficient to attract or sustain long-term investment.

The Quebec government anticipates these two RFPs will generate $1.3 billion in investments and create more than 4,000 jobs, bringing both economic and social benefits to many regions of the province, according to CanWEA.

The RFPs were launched last week with the first wind energy projects expected to be operational as early as 2012, putting Quebec on track to meet its target of developing 4,000 MW of wind energy by 2015, the organization said.

CanWEA's report, CanWEA’s Wind Vision 2025 – Powering Canada’s Future argues that Canada has the potential to make wind energy the country’s next great economic opportunity. Achieving the goal of providing 20 percent of the country’s electricity needs with wind energy by the year 2025 will result in $79 billion in new investment, the creation of up to 52,000 new “green collar” jobs, and more than $165 million in new revenues for municipalities, many in rural areas hit hard by traditional resource declines.