Increasing the use of renewable energy has become a touchstone of public policy. Jurisdictions of all descriptions, from China to Alberta, have made the procurement of renewable generating capacity a prominent feature of their energy development plans.
Each jurisdiction has its own approach reflecting the nature of its natural resources, the structure of its power market, and the policy approaches taken by its various decision-making agencies, public and private. Yet the grid is an integrated whole and the industry continually assesses business opportunities by looking across borders. Investors, developers and everyone with an interest in the power system naturally need to know where procurement policies in neighbouring jurisdictions are going.
IPPSO FACTO therefore sought answers to questions such as:
* How do the various jurisdictions compare in the terms they offer to encourage the development and operation of renewable power projects?
* Are they procuring new facilities outright, or simply encouraging the renewables industry to invest locally?
* What opportunities are available for developers scouting the landscape for places to locate new projects?
* What mechanisms are proving most attractive and most effective?
* An industry whose benefits are global, are the opportunities available to the renewable energy sector gradually becoming globalized, as diverse jurisdictions learn from each other on how best to procure renewables?
Canada is particularly challenging to assess as a whole because of the provincial-federal system, which allocates most decisions on electricity to the provinces – a system which has produced a picture of highly divergent rules from province to province. Only federal tax rules, including some development incentives, seem to create common features across the country.
IPPSO FACTO presents in this issue an overview of the programs and policies that operate across Canada.
For the full report, see:
Province-by-province report on renewable procurement systems
and