Major Clean Power Announcements in Canada’s Biggest Provinces While Alberta Slams the Brakes

Major clean electricity announcements swept through provinces representing three-quarters of Canada’s population this week, even as the province with by far the highest greenhouse gas emissions doubled down on a period of deep uncertainty for renewable energy developers and investors.

On Monday, British Columbia announced nine new wind power projects totalling 1,531 megawatts of new capacity.

On Wednesday, Ontario said it would increase its upcoming power purchase, already the largest in its history, from 5,000 to 7,500 MW, though there’s still no word on how much of that procurement will be devoted to renewable energy.

Then a day later, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador unveiled a tentative but still “monumental” agreement deal to redistribute revenues from the massive Churchill Falls hydropower project, a deal that could bring each province an estimated $200 billion in revenue over the next five decades, CBC reports.

Alberta’s announcement, contained in a December 10 directive from Affordability and Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf, introduced new market rules that could make it impossible for existing solar and wind projects to operate at a profit and drive even more renewable energy investment out of the province. (The Energy Mix has the whole story here.)

B.C.: $5 to $6 Billion in Wind Investment

B.C. said its power procurement brought C$5 to $6 billion in private investment into the province, with eight of the nine projects 51% owned by First Nations. The average power price was about 40% lower than what provincial utility BC Hydro paid in its last call for clean power in 2010., the province said in a release.

“We need these new energy generation projects urgently to meet growing demand for power and accelerate our efforts to build a prosperous and inclusive clean economy,” said Energy and Climate Solutions Minister Adrian Dix. “Now that the projects have been selected, we’re going to work together with BC Hydro, First Nations, and proponents to get these projects built quickly, responsibly, and efficiently, and get those turbines spinning.”

The province also announced that these wind projects and all future ones will be exempted from provincial environmental assessment rules.

It’s clear there are enormous opportunities to generate clean electricity through wind, and that we need to do more to get larger projects online faster,” said Environment and Parks Minister Tamara Davidson. “That’s why we are announcing our intention to exempt wind power projects from the environmental assessment process, with a rigorous provincial permitting process in place, while ensuring First Nations are full partners in our shared, sustainable future.”

Evan Pivnick, clean energy program manager at Clean Energy Canada, said renewable energy sources like solar and wind are already the cheapest way to generate electricity. “It’s great to see B.C. moving fast to capture the huge opportunities posed by wind power in the province,” he said in a release. “The projects announced today can help ensure we can meet this demand while keeping energy bills low in the years ahead.”

[Evan Pivnick is a member of The Energy Mix’s Heat & Power sounding board.]

Jessica McIlroy, buildings program manager at the Pembina Institute, said the “hugely positive response” to the call for proposals “helps position B.C. for economic success and community health in the decades to come. It shows the province is setting itself up to meet anticipated electricity demand growth while continuing to flourish in the low-carbon economy.”

Ontario: 50% More Power Procurement

Ontario said it increased the size of its Second Long-Term Procurement (LT2) after new analysis from the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) projected electricity demand rising 75% by 2050, “the equivalent of adding four and a half cities the size of Toronto to the grid,” the provincial release said. With four intakes between 2025 and 2028, the expanded purchase “will deliver enough power for 1.6 million homes, which is critical as our population and economy continue to grow,” said Energy and Electrification Minister Stephen Lecce.

The government also asked the IESO for options on two additional procurements covering:

• “Long-lead energy resources” like hydropower and long-duration energy storage;

• Options to “re-contract existing and acquire new-build small-scale electricity generation, such as smaller solar installations, that connect directly to the province’s distribution system.”

Ontario has also been musing about opening new nuclear power plants in Lambton, Haldimand County, and Port Hope.

Despite the uncertainty over electricity source, the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA) praised the expanded procurement.

“Today’s announcement is great news for the renewables industry and great news for Ontario,” said CanREA Ontario Director Eric Muller. “The province needs much more power, and renewables and energy storage will contribute significantly to meeting this need.”

The procurement “also presents tremendous opportunities for Indigenous communities, farmers, landowners and rural municipalities to participate in, and benefit from, significant new investments in wind, solar and energy storage,” Muller added.

Quebec/Newfoundland and Labrador: A ‘Monumental’ Hydropower Deal

On Thursday, Premiers Andrew Furey of Newfoundland and Labrador and François Legault of Quebec replaced a 65-year contract for the 11-turbine, 5,428-megawatt Churchill Falls hydropower development with what Furey’s government called a “historic partnership agreement” to redistribute revenue from the project. Until now, CBC reports, Hydro-Québec has paid just 1/5 of one cent per kilowatt-hour for power from the plant, which Newfoundland and Labrador owns, before reselling it for as much as 10.3¢/kWh.

The original contract ran until 2041. But at an announcement yesterday in St. John’s, Furey theatrically tore a document in half to declare that a new deal had been done.

“Today, everything changes for Newfoundland and Labrador,” he declared. “We are ripping up the 1969 contract. Not in 2041, when it expires, but today.”

The new memorandum of understanding, which was also signed by the Innu Nation and is due to be finalized in 2026, includes provisions to deliver new, clean power to Labrador by completing the Gull Island hydroelectric dam, downriver from Churchill Falls. CBC has details on what that project might look like.

Cover photo: Max Pixel