Standards: A key to the success of renewable energy in Canada

2009-10-01

According to the Canadian Renewable Energy Alliance “renewable power sources could meet our future power needs just as effectively and maybe at lower cost than other alternatives like nuclear power and coal with carbon capture – and do so sooner”. And, standards are an important key to this exciting future. 

Canada has loads of renewable energy potential. It is the second largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world. In 2007, Canada produced 368.2 TWh of electricity using hydroelectric dams, satisfying 62 per cent of Canadian electricity requirements. In addition, the Canadian Energy Research Institute has estimated that Canada has the technical potential for more than 40 GW of wind power, 10 GW of small hydro, 70 GW of solar power, 3 GW of tidal power and 10 to 16 GW of wave energy.

In May 2009, the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) invited interested stakeholders representing government, industry, regulators and consumers to participate on its Canadian committee for the development of an international standard on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. The invitation stated that “the definition of common terminology in the area of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources is a prerequisite to enable the different actors to act together and develop shared tools which will further the dialogue between all the stakeholders”.

Already, CSA Standards, formerly the Canadian Standards Associations (CSA), accredited by the Standards Council of Canada, offers a portfolio of energy-related standards for the design and installation requirements for renewable energy sources such as wind turbines, solar photovoltaic, solar hot water, earth energy systems, heat metering to support district heating and distributed generation.

Two renewable energies that are growing rapidly in Canada are wind and solar energy.

Wind power is one of the fastest growing sources of renewable energy in Canada and depends increasingly on standards. Today, Canada ranks eleventh in the world in installed wind power capacity. According to CanWEA, by the end of 2009, wind energy facilities will be operating for the first time in every province of Canada, producing enough electricity to power almost 1 million Canadian homes. This is almost 800 MW of new wind energy capacity installed by the end of the year, representing more than $1.5 billion of investment, and pushing Canada over the 3,000 MW mark. In September 2009, CanWEA and the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters announced a strategic partnership “to explore Canadian manufacturing opportunities in the growing global wind energy industry”. 

Canada’s wind farms now produce enough power to meet almost one per cent of Canada’s electricity demand. The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) has outlined a future strategy for wind energy that would reach a capacity of 55,000 MW by 2025, meeting 20% of the country’s energy needs. CanWEA believes that the plan, Wind Vision 2025, could create over 50,000 jobs and represent around CDN$165 million annual revenue, making Canada a major player in the wind power sector and creating around CDN$79 billion of investment. Also, it is projected to save an estimated 17 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

Elizabeth McDonald, President and CEO of the Canadian Solar Industries Association, says that standards are key: “Consumers need to know that they are buying into safe, quality technologies that meet rigorous criteria: They want to know what they’re getting.”

Canada has an abundant potential for solar energy use and excellent solar resources. Canada leads the world in solar air collector development and commercialization. Since 2007, there are an estimated 544,000 m2 of solar collectors operating in Canada. They are primarily unglazed plastic collectors for pool heating (71 per cent) and unglazed perforated solar air collectors for commercial building air heating (26 per cent), delivering about 627,000 GJ of energy and displacing 38,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.

Moves toward solar domestic hot water could go far in helping to curb climate change. One-fifth of total energy use in Canada is consumed by the residential sector, and around 17 per cent is used to heat water. This makes water heating one of the most energy consuming applications and one where solar panels can make a massive impact in further reducing bills and helping the environment. For each home that switches to this technology, the carbon offset is equal to driving approximately 3,000 kilometres a year.

In addition, McDonald says photovoltaic energy is being deployed more extensively, as it is one of the more easily adaptable technologies for the average consumer. 

Things are beginning to change in Canada, McDonald says. Industry by industry, experts in renewable energy are pitching in, and standards can help with buy-in at the consumer level. “It really does assure consumers of what they’re getting,” she said.

And that’s what’s needed in as we move increasingly towards becoming a greener world.

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This article first appeared in Volume 36 of CONSENSUS Magazine, 2009.  The information it contains was accurate at the time of publication but has not been updated or revised since, and may not reflect the latest updates on the topic.  If you have specific questions or concerns about the content, please contact the Standards Council of Canada.

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