Guess what? Alberta is on track to meet its 2030 renewable energy goal ahead of schedule

In 2016, the Alberta government set itself an ambitious target to help wean the province off its reliance on fossil fuels for electricity.

The Renewable Electricity Act https://www.alberta.ca/renewable-energy-legislation-and-reporting.aspx called for 30 per cent of all electricity produced in the province to come from renewables by 2030. For a grid like Alberta’s, which was still heavily reliant on coal, the target was significant.

Six years later, and still riding the momentum created by the 30 per cent target and previous government policies to support it, the province is on track to meet — or exceed — the goal and is close to surpassing an interim target calling for 15 per cent of electricity produced in Alberta to come from power sources such as wind and solar in 2022.

Alberta’s program included a series of three auctions where developers competed for government-backed contracts that ensured a base rate of return. This drove a surge of new projects https://thenarwhal.ca/alberta-renewable-energy-surge/ on Alberta’s wind-swept and sun-baked hills and fields. In total, the auctions increased renewable energy capacity https://www.pembina.org/media-release/REP2-auction-delivers-good-news in the province to 4,200 megawatts from 2,828 megawatts — that increase is enough to power over 750,000 homes.

That program was cancelled https://calgaryherald.com/business/energy/renewable-energy-plan-officially-dead-but-ab-wind-companies-still-see-a-bright-future by the UCP government under former premier Jason Kenney when it took power in 2019. It argued the government was no longer needed in the process. |Read more https://thenarwhal.ca/alberta-renewable-energy-2030/|
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