Wind turbines harness naturally occurring wind to spin generators and produce electricity — Canada's most affordable renewable, ideally suited to our geography.
Rather than using electricity to make wind like a fan, turbines capture wind to make electricity: wind turns propeller-like blades around a rotor, which drives a generator. No fuel, no combustion, no emissions.
A typical 2.5–3 MW onshore turbine produces over 6 million kWh a year — enough for about 1,500 Canadian homes. Wind supplies roughly 6% of Canada's electricity, with Ontario, Quebec and Alberta leading the buildout and Canada ranking in the global top ten for installed capacity.
Wind is the cheapest source of new renewable power in Canada. Most cost sits in design and construction; with zero fuel cost, ongoing generation runs just cents per kilowatt-hour, sold on fixed long-term contracts.
Alberta's deregulated market has driven Canada's fastest wind growth, while Atlantic Canada's world-class winds are attracting major wind-to-hydrogen investment.
Wind power has been harnessed for centuries — windmills were generating power in Persia and China as early as 200 BC.
Farms keep farming — turbines occupy a fraction of the land they sit on.
No greenhouse gases or air pollution while generating.
Redeploys energy workers into construction, operations and maintenance.