Renewable energy in Canada

Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Generating Stations, Ontario.
Share of electricity production from renewables from 1985 to 2019 in Canada[1]

Renewable energy in Canada represented 17.3% of the Total Energy Supply (TES) in 2020, following natural gas at 39.1% and oil at 32.7% of the TES.[2][3]

In 2020, Canada produced 435 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity from renewable sources, representing 68% of its total electricity generation. Hydroelectric power was the primary source, accounting for 60% of the electricity mix. Over the last decade, wind and solar power generation in Canada saw considerable growth. Wind energy increased fourfold to 36 TWh, representing 5.6% of 2020's total electricity generation. Solar PV output grew from 0.3 TWh in 2010 to 4.3 TWh in 2020, accounting for 0.7%. Bioenergy, mainly from solid biomass, rose by 11%, making up 1.6% of the 2020 generation. As of 2021, Canada ranks as the fourth-largest producer of hydropower in the world by capacity.[2]

From 2010 to 2017, the Environmental and Clean Technology (ECT) sector's growth rate outpaced Canada's overall economy by one-third.[4] According to Simon Fraser University's Clean Energy Canada program, by June 2020, the sector employed 430,500 workers across Canada.[4]

  1. ^ "Share of electricity production from renewables". Our World in Data. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Canada 2022 - Energy Policy Review" (PDF). International Energy Agency (IEA). 2022.
  3. ^ "Canada 2022 – Analysis". IEA. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference CEC_202106 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).