Alberta’s NDP government says it’s committed to having 30 per cent of the province’s electricity supply come from renewables by 2030, but details still need to be worked out on how to get there.
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The province’s grid operator has already received more than 7,500 MW of wind and solar power project proposals, according to a Canadian Solar Industries Association researcher.
Phillips says 5,000 megawatts of additional renewable energy capacity will be supported by the province, however at this point there is no price tag for taxpayers to achieve the 30 for 30 target.
The cost, however, isn’t known yet, she said, nor are details of how new projects will be selected. So far it has stipulated projects must be based in Alberta, be new or expanded and be at least five megawatts in size to be eligible for support.
When announcing its Climate Leadership Plan in November a year ago, Alberta said that renewables will power up to 30% its grid by 2030. “This target sends a clear signal to investors, providing the certainty required for investment”, the Pembina Institute said.
Investors have been awaiting further details on how Alberta will implement its climate targets and support renewable energy sources since the targets were first unveiled past year.
The government’s website says that $3.4 billion out of the almost $10 billion expected to be collected from the incoming broad-based carbon tax over the next five years will go toward “large scale renewable energy, bioenergy and technology”.
Phillips has no estimate for how much the government’s energy transition program will cost, but believes that it would be paid for by Alberta’s new carbon levy, which takes effect on January 1 and is expected to raise $3 billion in fiscal 2017-2018.
Patrick Bateman of the Canadian Solar Industries Association says this changes things because the commitment used to be “up to 30%”, instead of the firm commitment now in place.
“I expect that for any new generation, we’re going to need to see the new policy certainty that the minister’s been describing today”, he said.
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Evan Wilson, Prairies director of the Canadian Wind Energy Association, says wind power capacity in Alberta is now about 1,500 MW or five per cent of the total.
