As National Observer reports, Canada did well in the renewable energy rankings placing “second among "clean power matrixes" in the G20 industrialized economies, according to latest data from energy market research house BloombergNEF (BNEF).” But there’s a potential problem waiting in the wings as climate change intensifies that could see Canada lose that rating.
That’s because most of Canada’s current renewable energy comes from a “hydroelectric network that is seeing reservoir levels fall due to climate change.” If Canada wants to maintain its enviable ranking it needs to build out other renewables - like solar and wind - at a much faster pace.
“Total power generated in Canada declined almost four per cent year-on-year to just over 615 million megawatt-hours (MWh) in 2023 - the lowest level since data collection changes at Statistics Canada in 2016” and the majority of that drop was because of a drop in hydroelectric generation largely driven by drought in “Canada’s three largest hydro provinces, Quebec, British Columbia and Manitoba.”
BNEF estimates of what renewable power in Canada will look like by 2050 are staggering - modelling predicts Canada will “have 56,380 megawatts of installed wind (up 218.5 per cent from today), 69,500 megawatts of solar (up 1,714.6 per cent), 20,090 megawatts of battery storage (up 5,543.3 per cent), and 86,120 megawatts of hydropower capacity – similar to today.”
What is clear that if Canada wants to lower the emissions that are somewhat paradoxically leading to the conditions that are compromising its ability to produce hydroelectric power they will have to move quickly and expansively to bring more solar and wind (and battery storage) facilities online.