Home » Overview » Small Wind In Canada » Promoting it

Promoting It

Future of Small Wind Turbines in Canada 

Market research indicates that a number of opportunities exist for promotion of the small wind industry in Canada. The following provide potential rationale for public and private sector investments in this market expansion:

• There is an opportunity to develop a niche manufacturing sector in the 20 kW to 50 kW range where Canada already has a slight competitive advantage. A focus on developing farm and northern community markets (both of which correspond to this size range) would be of direct benefit to the Canadian manufacturers.
• Support for a SWT manufacturing industry would help to retain investment in Canada, promote job creation and assist in local economic development. This would help avoid the current situation of large wind turbines where up to 70% of economic benefits of Canadian installations leave the country due to a weak domestic manufacturing sector.
• Evidence indicates that people equate small and large wind turbines even though they have very different characteristics. Proponents of small wind argue that it is therefore in the wind industry’s interest as a whole (and government if they are supporting large wind) to ensure that the small wind market grows in a stable, sustained manner with quality products and installations.
• Realisation of the full market potential would result in the installation of over 600 MW of SWTs and GHG emission reductions of over 300 kilotonnes CO2e per year (equivalent to removing over 50,000 cars from the road).
• Small wind can play a role in the development of a stable, distributed generation network. Among renewable distributed generation technologies, small wind is one of the least expensive options (18 cents/kWh for a 50 kW machine).
• As the SWT markets grow and mature, turbine prices are expected to fall and turbine effectiveness and reliability to increase.

Drawing on U.S. experience, it appears that a SWT promotional strategy would require incentives in four areas: market development, policy development, technology development and education and awareness-raising. Exhibit ES-5 lists potential actions in each of these areas, and describes the SWT technology and market(s) that each action would affect.

Exhibit ES-5: Summary of Potential Activities