A special information supplementTH E G LOB E AND MA I LF R I DAY , S E P T EMB E R 1 8 , 2 0 0 9 CanWEA1

THE FUTURE OF WIND ENERGY IS BRIGHT

INSIDE 3

T he winds of change arein the air, and harnessingthem for energy produc-

tion is bringing prosperity tocompanies, communities andnations worldwide.

With electricity pricespoised for steady growth andenvironmental concerns at theforefront, there’s no time likenow to turn economic chal-lenge into opportunity.

Wind power is one of thefastest growing sources ofenergy in the world, bringingwith it new jobs, opportunitiesfor regional economic devel-opment, business opportunities

for landowners and municipal-ities – all with the underlyingbenefit of emissions-free ener-gy production.

Since 2005, when the glob-al wind energy business wasworth over $25 billion, theindustry has doubled in sizeevery three years, with Euro-pean nations leading ingrowth. Denmark now pro-duces enough wind to meet 20per cent of its electricitydemand, Spain 13 per cent,Germany and Portugal atabout 10 per cent each, andIreland and Greece producingaround five per cent each.

In Canada, while we havethe sixth-largest electricity sys-tem in the world, wind energyproduction is only equivalentto one per cent of electricitydemand. That puts us 16thglobally.

The Canadian Wind Ener-gy Association (CanWEA),representing over 420 mem-bers of Canada’s wind indus-try, has set an aggressive targetfor wind to provide 20 percent of Canada’s electricitysupply by 2025.

Canada’s wind industry

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www.canwea.ca

WindVision 2025 is a plan to provide 20% of our electricity demandthrough wind power by the year 2025 – creating clean energy, new jobs,investment and economic renewal for Canada.

Visit our website to learn more about the benefits of wind energy.

Energize the economy. Meet rising demand for electricity. Curb air pollution and greenhouse

gas emissions. These might sound like conflicting objectives, but wind energy proponents say

developing Canada’s wind energy capacity can achieve all this and more. Doing it, however,

will require decisive action. Has the time come for Canada to think big about wind?

The time is now to get serious about wind energy, writesRobert Hornung, President, Canadian Wind Energy Association. 5A Canadian Geographic map illustrates

Canada’s wind energy potential. 6Canadian wind energy developmentlagging global pace.

WINDVISION 2025POWERING CANADA’S FUTURE

S everal Canadianprovinces are now start-ing to make wind ener-

gy a priority, but wind energyproponents say Canada needsto do even more to capture ashare of the billions of antici-pated investment dollars andjob creation opportunitiesassociated with wind energy.

That cautionary messageresonates in the CanadianWind Energy Association’srecently released WindVision2025, a strategic vision thatoutlines Canada’s potential tobecome a major force in windenergy.

CanWEA president RobertHornung says over the past 15years the world’s installedwind energy capacity hasgrown 25 per cent annually.“We expect to see more thanone trillion dollars investedworldwide in the comingdecade,” he says. “Canada hasprobably the best windresource in the world. It is welldistributed across the country.Wind represents an environ-mental and an economicopportunity for communitiesacross Canada.”

Ontario, arguably Cana-da’s best example of how toput wind energy to work,needs little convincing.

“We are indeed numberone in Canada, with morethan 1,000 megawatts of windcapacity – enough to powerabout a quarter of a million

homes,” said Ontario DeputyPremier and Minister of Ener-gy and Infrastructure GeorgeSmitherman, noting Ontario’swind projects represent morethan $2 billion in privateinvestment, and millions morein lease payments and munici-pal tax revenues.

“They have created or willcreate thousands of direct con-struction and permanent jobsfor our citizens, as well asthousands more indirect jobs,”he said. “We intend to keepbuilding on that kind of suc-cess through our new GreenEnergy Act.”

Mr. Hornung says mostimportantly, Ontario’s objec-tives are backed with support-ive policies that address keyissues.

For example, the GEAobligates the Ontario PowerAuthority to purchase powerfrom green energy projects ata set price and will encouragethe adoption of smart gridtechnologies needed to trans-form Ontario’s energy systemfrom highly centralized tomore distributed. The GEAalso obligates utilities to grantpriority grid access to greenenergy projects and connectthem to the grid. And the actcalls for streamlined regulatoryand approval processes toexpedite prudent develop-ment.

New Brunswick is alsopaving the way for clean ener-

gy. New Brunswick EnergyMinister Jack Keir says theprovince is well on track to seean additional 10 per cent of itsenergy capacity producedfrom new renewable sourcesin 2010, “with most of it beingwind energy.”

Currently, the provincesees approximately 23 per centof its energy generated fromrenewable resources consistingof hydro and biomass.

Of New Brunswick’s 4,000MW of current electricitycapacity, a TransAlta windfarm now provides 96 MW.Three new wind farms willsoon add 213 MW. And theprovincial utility recentlyrequested proposals for anoth-er 100 MW of wind energy –all for use by New Brunswick-ers.

Beyond satisfying localdemand, Minister Keir says,“We have an opportunity toexport clean energy into oneof the largest demand marketsin North America.”

Building this capacityrequires a comprehensiveapproach, says Minister Keir.“When you move aggressivelyon this, you must do it in con-sultation with all stakeholdersincluding communities andwith large companies that willpotentially invest.”

Even in Alberta, where justtwo years ago the province’selectricity operator expressedconcerns about moving

beyond 900 MW of wind, cit-ing the variability of windenergy production, wind ener-gy is building momentum. “Totheir credit, they consultedwith other jurisdictions to seewhat is possible,” says Mr.Hornung. “They have sinceproposed to add 3,000 MW ofwind to an existing 500 MW.They are confident they cando it.”

Mr. Hornung says it’s timefor the rest of Canada to followthe lead of provinces like these.

Among other things, hesays Canadian policies shouldfactor environmental costsinto electricity market pricing.“Putting a price on carbon is agood start,” says Mr. Hor-nung.

In terms of stimulatingwind farm development, Mr.Hornung notes that while thefederal EcoENERGY forRenewable Power programhas been enormously success-ful, its budget will be fully allo-cated by this fall. “So far, thereare no further signals comingfrom federal government. Thisis challenging at a time whenthe industry is facing the cur-rent financial crises and rapid-ly expanding opportunities inthe U.S.”

He says the potentialupside of wind developmenthas been well demonstrated.

Spain, for example, whichhad just 1,000 MW of windenergy in 2000, made a bold

commitment to develop20,000 MW by 2010. “Today,Spain has over 18,000 MW ofwind energy, representing 13per cent of Spain’s electricity.It is also now home to theworld’s largest wind developerand one of the world’s topthree wind turbine manufac-turers. This demonstrates whatcan be accomplished with astrategic approach to windenergy development.”

Mr. Hornung cautions thatnations worldwide, includingChina and India, are vying forinvestment. A recent windenergy conference in Chicago,for example, drew some23,000 delegates, includingseven U.S. governors. “Nine-teen states exhibited, all ofthem trying to attract windenergy development. Canadais competing among jurisdic-tions like these.”

Beyond economic gain,wind energy offers another keybenefit: a cleaner environ-ment.

Tim Weis, director ofrenewable energy and efficien-cy at the Pembina Institute,says, “We have put off actionon climate change for toolong. There are a number ofreasons we need to look atrenewables in general, butwind is particularly relevantbecause it’s the most advancedand currently the most cost-effective of the new renewabletechnologies.”

CANWEA BELIEVES WINDENERGY CAN SATISFY 20PER CENT OF CANADA’SELECTRICITY DEMAND BY2025, AND IN THEPROCESS:> GENERATE $79 BILLIONOF INVESTMENT

> CREATE AT LEAST52,000 HIGH-QUALITY,FULL-TIME JOBSINCLUDING MANY INRURAL COMMUNITIES

> PRODUCE $165 MILLIONIN NEW ANNUALREVENUES FORMUNICIPALITIES, AND ASIMILAR AMOUNT FORLANDOWNERS

> ADD 55,000 MW OFCLEAN GENERATINGCAPACITY

> STABILIZE ELECTRICITYPRICES

> CUT CANADA’S ANNUALGHG EMISSIONS BY 17MEGATONNES

See Bright future CanWEA2

HARVESTING WIND ENERGY’S BENEFITS

W hen St. Leon, Manito-ba, was founded 130years ago, it was seen

as a promised land for French-speaking people from Quebecand the U.S. But by 2002,when Bob Spensley, managingdirector of Sequoia Energy,began considering St. Leon asa viable location for a windfarm, the town’s populationhad dwindled to about 75 peo-ple.

These days, however, thiscommunity and others acrossCanada are thriving, reapingthe social benefits of windenergy.

“My wife had worked inthat region as an occupationaltherapist and knew there werestrong winds in the area,” saysMr. Spensley, explaining whattriggered Sequoia’s interestand how the notion of a windfarm gained St. Leon’s com-munity support one person ata time.

“I ordered a bowl of soupat the local hotel and just start-ed talking about wind devel-opment as community devel-opment,” he says. “One per-son led to the next person. Itwas all word of mouth backthen.”

In 2006, when the 99megawatt St. Leon wind proj-ect construction was complet-ed, it became Canada’s largestwind energy installation andManitoba’s first independentpower producer.

“If the community had notbecome so unified behind it, itmay not have happened,” saysMr. Spensley. “There are 51landowner families and 63 tur-bines, spread over roughly 20square miles of land – and thevillage is squarely in the mid-dle of the project.”

See Benefits CanWEA3

A special information supplementTH E G LOB E AND MA I L

F R I DAY , S E P T EMB E R 1 8 , 2 0 0 9CanWEA6

I n more than 70 countriesaround the world, windenergy is already a reliable,

clean source of electricity. Yet,as nations worldwide aggres-sively develop their wind ener-gy resources, some expertsexpress concern that Canada isfalling behind, risking loss ofinvestment and the potential tofully exploit its wind energycapacity.

Wind energy utilization isnot new. In 1900, more thansix million windmills werealready in operation in North

America for farm irrigation,and wind power has been usedto move people and cargoacross the world’s oceans formore than 5,000 years. But asthe environmental and eco-nomic dangers associated withfossil fuel become ever pres-ent, interest in wind energy isrising worldwide as a primesource of infinite, economicaland clean power.

“The average growth ofglobal installed capacity hasbeen about 28 per cent to 29per cent each year for the past

decade,” says Steve Sawyer,secretary general of the GlobalWind Energy Council. “In theUnited States last year, 42 percent of all new power installa-tions were wind; in Europe,about 38 per cent. Wind isalready producing 20 per centof Denmark’s electricity, 13per cent of Spain’s, 12 per centof Portugal’s and nine per centof Germany’s.”

The fastest growing windenergy market is now China,which has doubled in size eachyear since 2005. In 2008, it

was the second largest marketin the world; with 10 gigawattsof new installed capacity in2009, it is now the largest. “Toput that in perspective,” saysMr. Sawyer, “China will installfive times Canada’s currenttotal capacity in 2009.”

In the U.S., Vestas Americ-as’ – the world’s leading manu-facturer of wind turbines – cur-rent capital budget for con-struction is over a billion dol-lars, says Roby Roberts, execu-tive vice president of govern-ment relations. “We’re a globalcompany, and one of ourmajor focuses is North Ameri-ca because we think it will bethe future world leader in windenergy. Right now, we’re build-ing four manufacturing plantsin the U.S. and developing ourNorth American supply chainto provide that manufacturingwith components.”

Mr. Roberts, who is also aboard member of the Canadi-an Wind Energy Association,says the downside is thatCanada is not keeping pace.

“Part of Canada’s problemhas been a lack of federalleadership,” he says. “The cur-rent U.S. administration andCongress are creating a policyand market atmosphere thatencourages growth; we’re notseeing that sort of leadershipat a federal level in Canada.”

That’s unfortunate formany reasons, he says, butespecially because Canada isso rich in wind resources.“The Maritimes, Quebec,Ontario, the Prairie provincesand B.C. all have world-classwind resources. What Canadais lacking right now is a strongnational commitment to cleanenergy. A commitment of 20per cent of all electric demandin Canada being generated bywind energy would signal toour industry that Canada isprepared to be a worldleader.”

Wind power is both atremendous economic oppor-tunity and a solution to thegrave challenge of climatechange. “The power sectorremains the single greatestcontributor to the overallproblem of climate change,with about 40 per cent of allCO2 emissions,” says Mr.Sawyer. “If we are going tohave any chance of avoidingthe worst damage of climatechange, we have to make sub-stantial changes between nowand 2020.”

He says there are onlythree ways to make a majordifference. “The first is effi-ciency, and no one has found

a way to incentivize it yet; thesuccessful programs I knowregulate it. The second isswitching from coal to gas,with a little bit less than halfthe emissions. But like oil, themain gas resources are concen-trated in relatively few coun-tries, some of which are notthe most stable of regimes.”

The third solution, he says,is wind power. “It is the fastestand often the cheapest way toadd new capacity to the grid.The course we’re on in themoment would put us at justover a million megawatts, onthe ground and sea globally,by 2020.”

“It’s estimated that we willsee more than a trillion dollarsinvested globally in new windenergy between now and2020, and that we will see twomillion new jobs created,”says Robert Hornung, presi-dent of the Canadian WindEnergy Association. “Thisobviously represents a tremen-dous economic opportunity.Our desire is to see Canadatake the steps required to cap-ture a growing percentage ofthat global economic opportu-nity. Canada is very well posi-tioned to play a much moresubstantial role with respect towind.”

But for Canada to capturea growing sector of that mar-ketplace, the right policy envi-ronment is essential. “Windenergy provides an opportuni-ty to generate economic bene-fits from a new naturalresource. We are in a globalcompetition for this invest-ment, and investors are look-ing for those jurisdictions thatprovide stable, consistent poli-cy frameworks,” he says.

WIND ENERGY TAKING HOLD WORLDWIDE,YET DEVELOPMENT IN CANADA IS LAGGING

www.canwea.ca

CanWEA would like to thank the followingpartners for supporting

WindVision 2025PoWering Canada’s Future

“It’s estimated that we will see more than a trillion dollars invested globally in new windenergy between now and 2020, and that we will see two million new jobs created. Thisobviously represents a tremendous economic opportunity.”- Robert Hornung, president of the Canadian Wind Energy Association

A VISION FOR COMPETITIVENESS

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTLOCAL INVOLVEMENT ENCOURAGED

W hen TransAlta Corpo-ration won its KentHills wind farm con-

tract, it was aware that strongcommunity engagement andbest practices were going to bean essential part of workingand communicating with thelocals.

What the company wasn’taware of was just how engagedthe community was going tobecome.

“Once we were on site,people just started showing upand wanting to talk to us. Itgot to the point where webecame almost a tourist attrac-tion on weekends. Even one ofthe local vendors set up a chipwagon during construction andended up staying there untilwe were done,” says JasonEdworthy, director of Commu-nity Relations with TransAlta.

“The wonderful thing wasthe community members’ pos-itive, welcoming attitude. Theywere excited about the tech-nology and excited by thelocal economic development.”

Leading up to the construc-tion of its 32-turbine windfarm in this coastal NewBrunswick community,TransAlta was busy seekinginput from local stakeholders.“That is as critical as havingoperational equipment and theright site. If you haven’t con-sulted with the local popula-tion successfully, a project isnot going to work,” says Mr.Edworthy.

Along with initiating both

general and individual meet-ings with local stakeholders,TransAlta also runs ads andworks with the local media totell its story. “Our website hasalso become an importanttool,” adds Mr. Edworthy.

The company held a localvendor fair, allowing local busi-ness people to pitch their workand wares to TransAlta’s majorsuppliers. In the end, $20 mil-lion of the project’s $170-mil-lion budget was spent locally.

TransAlta is one of over420 members of the CanadianWind Energy Association(CanWEA) – a non-profitindustry association that pro-motes the responsible and sus-tainable development of thewind industry in Canada.

CanWEA’s vice-presidentof communications and mar-keting, Chris Forrest, says it isessential to the success ofCanada’s wind industry to cre-ate the opportunity for intelli-gent and open dialogue whereall points of view are consid-ered and addressed.

“While wind energy is awell-established form of ener-gy generation around theworld, it is young in Canada,so people are naturally curi-ous,” he says. “It is our job toprovide answers to their ques-tions and back up our goal ofbringing a new and openapproach to energy develop-ment in Canada.”

To that end, CanWEA hasestablished a member-basednational communications advi-

sory group this year that con-tinues to grow in both its num-bers and its mandate. “We’recoming together, sharing bestpractices and sharing resourcesso that we’re consistent incommunicating the benefits ofwind energy across the coun-try,” says Mr. Forrest.

“The vast majority of peo-ple living near wind farmshave had very positive experi-ences, and we need to commu-nicate what that means.”

CanWEA facilitates peer-to-peer communications sothat stakeholders can sharetheir experiences. “It’s betterfor a mayor to hear directlyfrom another mayor how awind development saved theirtown because of other resourcedeclines,” says Mr. Forrest.

Not only has CanWEAinvested heavily in its website– described by Mr. Forrest asCanada’s most comprehensive,go-to source for wind informa-tion – it recently worked withCanadian Geographic todevelop Canada’s first-everwind energy map along with26 related lesson plans thatwill be used in schools acrossthe country.

“At the end of the day,everyone in this young indus-try has a stake in how wemove forward and are viewedby the public. Being known asa responsible industry thatcommunicates early and open-ly with the community is cru-cial to our long-term success,”says Mr. Forrest.

“The current U.S. administrationand Congress are creating a policyand market atmosphere thatencourages growth; we’re notseeing that sort of leadership at afederal level in Canada.”

- Roby Roberts, Executive VicePresident of GovernmentRelations, Vestas Americas