Release
Canada’s Hydropower Installed Capacity Will Approach 85 Gigawatts by 2025, says GlobalData
LONDON, UK (GlobalData), 4 August 2015 – Hydropower will remain the dominant power source in Canada’s energy mix over the next decade, with installed hydropower capacity forecast to increase from approximately 77.6 Gigawatts (GW) in 2014 to an estimated 84.8 GW by 2025, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData.
The company’s latest report* states that hydropower will provide around 49.4% of Canada’s cumulative installed capacity by the end of the forecast period. Other renewable sources, including wind, solar, biomass and biogas, will contribute 34.9 GW, a 20.3% share.
Chiradeep Chatterjee, GlobalData’s Senior Analyst covering Power, says that the advent of federal and provincial policies supporting clean power means Canada’s hydropower capacity is expected to increase at a high rate compared to coal and nuclear capacity in terms of future power generation.
Chatterjee explains: “Canada is a global leader in hydropower generation, with the technology favored as a low-cost base-load power source that does not emit greenhouse gases.
“While installed hydropower capacity is expected to increase at a modest Compound Annual Growth Rate of 0.7%, a number of large hydropower projects are currently in the construction phase and the country has the infrastructure in place to cope with more than double its current hydropower capacity.”
The analyst adds that after hydropower, the foremost renewable sources over the forecast period will be wind and solar power, with installed capacities of 24.9 GW and 6.9 GW by 2025, respectively.
Chatterjee continues: “With concern over rising carbon emissions and the possibility of outages at fossil fuel-based power plants, wind and solar capacity additions are expected to increase to meet rising demand.
“Government support could encourage the provinces of Quebec, Manitoba, Ontario, and Alberta to make large wind power capacity additions, while solar photovoltaic incentives, such as the Ontario Feed-in Tariff Program, will drive solar installations during the forecast period,” the analyst concludes.