Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Members of the committee, I am very pleased to be here with you today.
My name is Sean Whittaker. I'm the vice-president of policy for the Canadian Wind Energy Association.
Our asks around the 2011 federal budget focus around three areas, each of which has a particular focus on an area of interest to us. One is on the development of Canada as a clean energy superpower. The second is an interest in building wind-related R and D capacity in Canadian universities and colleges. The third is an interest in strengthening our northern communities and reducing their reliance on diesel generation.
From that there are three particular asks we are looking for. One is development of a pan-Canadian wind integration study, the second is a wind energy capacity development initiative, and the third is a northern and remote wind incentive program. I'll spend a few minutes going over each of these.
The first ask is support for a pan-Canadian wind integration study, which would amount to about $3 million over the course of one year. As many of you know, Canada is very well positioned to be a clean energy superpower. We have a remarkable resource, not only in wind but also in hydro and other sources, and CanWEA believes that wind energy could satisfy 20% of Canada's electricity demand by 2025, which is a great opportunity, particularly given the great demand for green energy in our neighbour to the south. But what we really lack, at the present, is an understanding of what the great impacts would be. So if you bring on high levels of wind or high levels of hydro, what are the operational changes that are required, and what would Canada's electricity look like? What transmission builds would be required in order to accommodate this?
In order to get an understanding of this, there is an urgent need to develop a wind integration study. Over the past year and a half, CanWEA brought together representatives of every system operator in Canada as part of a steering committee to develop the terms of reference for the study. The estimated overall cost is $6 million, half of which would come as in-kind contributions from the utilities themselves. We certainly have strong support from this government and would be looking for $3 million to help with this study.
The second ask has to do with a wind energy capacity development initiative, which is $25 million over five years. At present Canada's expenditures on wind-related R and D on a per capita basis are about one-third of what they are in the United States, so this is a gap we feel needs to be addressed. In the past two years there was an initiative that was led by industry, funded by government, to develop a wind technology road map, which brought together experts across the country to look at R and D opportunities for wind across the country. That document was released about six months ago. It had some great recommendations in it, but there was no federal funding attached to it. We are seeking $25 million over five years for this initiative, which would essentially act on the recommendations that this group of experts brought forward, and really the goal of that is to make sure that for every turbine that's installed in Canada, you are maximizing the number of jobs in the economic investment that happens in Canada as a result.
The third ask is for a northern and remote wind incentive program, which would amount to $63 million over a five-year period. As many of you know, in Canada's northern and remote communities—there are over 300 of them—they rely on diesel generation. It's expensive, it's polluting, and it brings very few local economic benefits. Wind in these cases is a proven made-in-Canada solution.
If you travel to Alaska, there are many communities that already use wind-diesel technology. In fact, they use Canadian wind-diesel technology to displace diesel generation. We already have a lead in manufacturing of turbines in this range, so a program to promote this technology would do a great deal to boost Canadian industry. According to our projections, it would meet approximately 8% of northern electricity demand and reduce fossil fuel use in northern communities by about half a billion litres over the course of the project. It is an opportunity for Canada to gain a position in a growing market globally for isolated power.
In conclusion, we have a total ask of $91 million over five years. It is an opportunity for us to really get traction as a clean energy superpower. It's an opportunity for us to build on our R and D capacity, which is currently lacking, and we have very strong provincial support for these initiatives.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.