Setback threatens viability of offshore wind

Ontario Offshore Wind Regulation opens public consultation, shifts policy signals for investors, reshapes Great Lakes siting, and impacts renewable energy projects while aiming for sustainable development and a stable, transparent framework.

The Canadian Wind Energy Association CanWEA expressed serious concern about the implications of the Ontario government's new proposed 5 km setback for offshore wind energy developments in Ontario.

If implemented, this decision will prevent several proposed offshore wind energy projects, many of which are stuck in neutral under current policy, from proceeding in their current form.

"Encouraged by the Ontario Government to explore offshore wind energy opportunities, companies have been making significant investments to develop wind energy projects in areas that would now be excluded from development under the proposed regulation," said CanWEA president Robert Hornung. "Investors require strong and stable wind energy policy, but this element of the proposed regulation is inconsistent with past policy signals concerning offshore wind energy in Ontario, including the province's environmental review of wind power that has influenced recent decisions."

The proposed regulation is part of a package of policies on offshore wind energy development that are now open to public consultation. CanWEA will be reviewing and responding to these proposals with a view to proposing changes targeted at maintaining investor confidence in Ontario's offshore wind energy policy framework, especially after the province lifted the deferral on offshore wind projects earlier this year, while at the same time facilitating and ensuring the responsible and sustainable development of offshore wind energy in Ontario.

"It will be critical for the Ontario government to ensure that any new regulatory framework provides opportunities for existing offshore wind energy project proponents to build on the work they have undertaken to date to make offshore wind energy a reality in Ontario," said Hornung. "If not, Ontario's early lead in the pursuit of offshore wind energy opportunities in the Great Lakes, despite the recent freeze on Great Lakes proposals announced by the province, will be challenged by the many US states now also actively encouraging such development."

At the end of 2009, there was more than 2,000 MW of installed offshore wind energy capacity in ten countries worldwide. While there are not currently any offshore wind farms in North America, projects are in development in both Canada and the United States, including the planned first offshore wind farm in Ohio project, which underscores regional momentum.

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