North American installed wind capacity will grow by up to 75GW over the next ten years according to new research by Make Consulting.
The consultancy’s North America Wind Power Outlook released today has predicted that “unprecedented long-term policy certainty” in the US and “increasingly climate-conscious, low-carbon energy directives” in Canada will drive growth.
“Turbine technology advancement and balance of plant cost reductions will continue to drive down the levelised cost of electricity of wind power and offset a portion of the lost production tax credit value from 2019,” Make said.
“This will allow wind power to maintain a substantial share of new power generation demand, despite attractive costs for natural gas power and rising competition from solar PV.”
Make said Ontario and Quebec will be in the vanguard of Canadian wind with at least two-thirds of the country’s wind power due to come from the provinces.
In addition, it said that wind installations on the back of coal retirements in Alberta and Saskatchewan will represent a growing share of Canada’s total wind power forecast.
Image: MorgueFile
