Yes. The results challenge those who claim that renewables can’t play a leading role in the clean electricity transition. The sun may not always shine and the wind may not always blow, but the combination of solutions that are modelled in this report shows how a grid largely powered by renewables can deliver clean electricity reliably where and when it is needed across the country. Improvements to energy efficiency and battery storage technologies are essential.

The scale of transformation is daunting. It would require an average annual build-out of wind and solar electricity projects never before seen in Canada. An average of more than 2,200 new four-MW wind turbines would be installed every year and more than 160 new 10-MW solar farms would be built each year. Interprovincial transmission will also need to expand at an unprecedented rate. An equivalent rate of adding renewable projects is already planned in places like Germany. By early 2022, Germany had installed 28,000 onshore wind turbines. By 2025, the country expects to be adding 10 GW of wind annually, similar to what our modelling scenarios would require.

Yes. Building out wind and solar at this scale would affect large areas. Careful planning is needed to ensure that renewable infrastructure and transmission lines are located in landscapes in ways that minimize negative impacts on biodiversity. Where possible, all infrastructure projects should be evaluated for their potential to support biodiversity recovery and incorporate natural infrastructure.

Impacts differ. In some agricultural landscapes, for example, wind farms can be located with relatively little impact. Areas that supply critical habitat for migratory birds would likely be poor candidates for a wind farm location. Likewise, prime agricultural lands are better suited for food production and would be a poor choice, in most instances, for locating a solar farm (though solar PV on farm buildings make good sense and can reduce farmers’ energy costs). Where possible, existing linear infrastructure, such as railway rights-of-way or highway corridors, should be considered for transmission lines to avoid additional habitat fragmentation.

The electricity system of the future will operate differently than the one we have today. Sharing wind, solar and hydro resources within and between provinces will make Canada’s electricity grid more reliable and flexible. Connections between regions together with energy storage and other grid upgrades will make it easier to deliver electricity where and when it’s needed.

Sharing electricity between provinces will also cost less as the grid expands than having provinces rely on their own, separate systems. All provinces, regardless of their current electricity systems, can realize real benefits to a more connected electricity grid.

Indigenous world views and knowledge need to be incorporated and respected within broader societal and economic value systems;

Meaningful, rights-based and consent-based consultation must become common practice for all clean energy projects;

Existing Indigenous leadership needs to be honoured and advanced through support for capacity, ownership opportunities and jobs;

Indigenous leaders require a seat at decision-making tables, as decarbonizing electricity must also mean decolonizing power structures;

Solving systemic infrastructure gaps for Indigenous communities through focused just transition measures must be prioritized as part of the clean energy transition; and

Economic reconciliation must be central to the clean energy transition by removing barriers to accessing financial capital, ownership and other project benefits.

All models have limitations and are not predictive by design. The modelling simplifies the real world, seeking only least-cost solutions to building out future generation, storage and transmission capacity to meet future energy demand within scenario settings and constraints. Other factors will need to influence the grid of the future, including local preference for what renewable generation is built where, how provincial grid interties are strengthened and how electricity markets are structured. These pathways need to be technically feasible and socially acceptable.

Off-grid and remote electricity systems and territorial grids or non-integrated electricity systems are beyond the scope of this report. Technologies such as offshore wind, geothermal generation, distributed energy resources, demand response, green hydrogen and hybrid projects (e.g., a project where solar generation and battery storage are bundled) were also beyond its scope.

Government has already made concessions to industry, including delaying the release of the Clean Fuel Regulations from 2020 to 2023, and removing heating oil and gaseous and solid fuels from the agreement, leaving only gasoline and diesel covered. Industry has had three years to prepare for these regulations.

The Clean Fuel Regulations are a polluter-pay policy focused on refinery operations. They include flexibility to incentivize innovation. It is irresponsible for industry to pass on increased costs to consumers when their own inaction is causing problems.

Delaying the implementation of these regulations is not a viable option. We are already experiencing Canada’s worst wildfires in history and we’re just near the beginning of summer. Climate regulations like Clean Fuel Regulations are needed to drive down emissions and lessen the impacts of severe and more frequent fires, floods and droughts. Climate inaction or delay costs us more in the long run. 

Yes. They are based on a worst–case scenario by the PBO that ignores the benefits, overstates the costs on household budgets and neglects the costs of using alternative mechanisms to reduce emissions. 

There is much economic potential in climate action: the regulations position Canada to compete in the global decarbonizing economy, attracting new investments and creating tangible benefits.