Offshore Wind Development in Ontario, Canada: Moratorium on all offshore wind development

The number of wind turbines in Ontario has increased from a handful to almost 800 in just eight years, with windmills now supplying almost three per cent of the province’s electricity. But in recent weeks the wind has dropped out of the sails of the alternative energy industry in the province, with developers unsure about the future direction of wind development in Ontario.

The heady pace of wind development in Ontario has been due in large part to the government’s feed-in tariff (FIT) program. It guarantees a 20-year price of 13.5 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for wind projects.

But the government announced a moratorium on all offshore wind development, saying more research was needed to determine health and environmental impacts, particularly with respect to projects in the Great Lakes.

Source: Offshore Wind