Wind is Sask’s low-carbon advantage

The governments of 195 countries have reached a historic agreement in Paris on the need to transition to a low-carbon economy. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has stressed the importance of ensuring this transition occurs in a responsible way. Like many countries around the world, Saskatchewan has recognized that this means wind energy has a critical role to play.

SaskPower announced just before the Paris talks an ambitious, but achievable, commitment that will significantly increase wind energy’s contribution to Saskatchewan’s electricity generating capacity — from approximately 200 MW today to over 2,000 MW by 2030. This shift to affordable, reliable and clean wind energy is consistent with global trends. A recent forecast by Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that by 2040, the world’s power generation mix will transpose from a system where two-thirds of power plants generate electricity by burning fossil fuels to one with 60 per cent zero-emission energy sources.

While Saskatchewan is blessed with tremendous untapped wind energy resources, the real driver for new investment in wind energy over other types of generation is economic. In most of North America, including Saskatchewan, the two cheapest sources of new electricity generation are natural gas and wind energy. Compared to natural gas, however, wind energy does not face a carbon price risk since it is non-emitting, nor is there a commodity price risk because the fuel is free.

Wind energy’s cost-competitiveness helps explain why it has been the largest source of new electricity generating capacity in Canada over the last five years, and in the European Union over the last 15 years.

As wind energy production has grown rapidly around the world, it is clear it can be reliably integrated into electricity grids. Wind energy meets three per cent of Saskatchewan’s total electricity demand today and this would likely increase to close to 20 per cent by 2030 under the new targets proposed by SaskPower.

In 2014, seven U.S. states already met between 15 per cent and 28 per cent of their electricity demand with wind energy, including South Dakota (25 per cent), Idaho (18 per cent), North Dakota (17 per cent) and Minnesota (15 per cent).

By reducing greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, wind energy will help build a low-carbon electricity system that can ultimately be used to reduce emissions in other sectors like transportation, buildings and industrial processes through electrification.

Wind energy also benefits the environment because it produces electricity without emitting air pollutants, particulate matter or waste of any kind. It also requires much less water usage than conventional power plants.

Recent polling commissioned by the Canadian Wind Energy Association on the topic of increasing wind energy in Saskatchewan showed strong support for this low-cost, low-carbon, low-risk source of new supply. When 750 Saskatchewan residents in May were asked the question, “which of the following technologies should be the highest priority for Saskatchewan,” more than half (51 per cent) chose wind energy, while natural gas, hydropower, coal and nuclear energy received between three- and 20-percent support.

The Paris Agreement and SaskPower’s renewable energy commitments represent a tremendous opportunity for Saskatchewan. New wind energy development will help diversify the economy and bring new investment and jobs into the province — particularly in rural communities that have long seen natural resources, like the wind, as a key driver of the economy.

The Canadian Wind Energy Association is keen to work with both SaskPower and the government of Saskatchewan to ensure that the province’s new wind energy commitments are met in a manner that is both effective and efficient.

We also recognize the importance of meaningful engagement and consultation with stakeholders, First Nations and communities that are potential hosts of wind energy developments. Working together, we can ensure that wind energy will be a winwin-win for Saskatchewan’s economy, environment and communities.