Two-thirds of Canada's electricity now comes from renewable resources
A full 66% of Canada’s electricity generation now comes from renewable resources such as wind, biomass, and solar, while 60% of the country’s power is generated by hydro.
The findings are part of a new report released today by the National Energy Board, which looked at Canada’s adoption of renewable power sources up to 2015.
The report, entitled Canada’s Adoption of Renewable Power Sources, gave direct comparisons of how Canada ranks internationally for renewable power adoption.
“Canada’s hydro generation has allowed the country to be one of the global leaders in renewable energy for years,” said Shelley Milutinovic, chief economist at the National Energy Board in a statement.
“Now, as solar, wind and other technologies become more cost competitive, we expect to see a continuing increase in their adoption in the future.”
The breakdown
While hydro is by far the most popular renewable power source, other renewable sectors are growing as well.
Wind accounted for 4% of Canada’s electricity generation in 2015, putting the country in seventh place when it came to global wind power producers.
Biomass accounted for about 2% of Canada’s electricity generation in 2015. Internationally, biomass also accounts for about 2% of global power generation and is mostly attributed to solid biomass in the form of wood pellets and chips.
Solar power accounted for only 0.5% of Canada’s electricity generation in 2015, with 98% of that capacity installed in Ontario.
The report also looked at factors that affect the uptake of each renewable source, including financial costs, reliability and environmental impacts.
Compared to other countries, Canada’s electricity generation per capita is relatively high. With more than 600 terawatt hours (TW.h) of electricity production in 2015, Canada generates as much electricity as countries with much larger populations, including Germany, Brazil and France.
The report also noted that in 2015, Canada was a global leader in total hydroelectricity production, second only to China.
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A full 66% of Canada’s electricity generation now comes from renewable resources such as wind, biomass, and solar, while 60% of the country’s power is generated by hydro.
The findings are part of a new report released today by the National Energy Board, which looked at Canada’s adoption of renewable power sources up to 2015.
The report, entitled Canada’s Adoption of Renewable Power Sources, gave direct comparisons of how Canada ranks internationally for renewable power adoption.
“Canada’s hydro generation has allowed the country to be one of the global leaders in renewable energy for years,” said Shelley Milutinovic, chief economist at the National Energy Board in a statement.
“Now, as solar, wind and other technologies become more cost competitive, we expect to see a continuing increase in their adoption in the future.”
The breakdown
While hydro is by far the most popular renewable power source, other renewable sectors are growing as well.
Wind accounted for 4% of Canada’s electricity generation in 2015, putting the country in seventh place when it came to global wind power producers.
Biomass accounted for about 2% of Canada’s electricity generation in 2015. Internationally, biomass also accounts for about 2% of global power generation and is mostly attributed to solid biomass in the form of wood pellets and chips.
Solar power accounted for only 0.5% of Canada’s electricity generation in 2015, with 98% of that capacity installed in Ontario.
The report also looked at factors that affect the uptake of each renewable source, including financial costs, reliability and environmental impacts.
Compared to other countries, Canada’s electricity generation per capita is relatively high. With more than 600 terawatt hours (TW.h) of electricity production in 2015, Canada generates as much electricity as countries with much larger populations, including Germany, Brazil and France.
The report also noted that in 2015, Canada was a global leader in total hydroelectricity production, second only to China.
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