Wind Energy FAQs

A wind farm is a cluster of wind turbines that harvest the power of the wind, and is usually connected to the electric grid of a utility for widespread consumption of its electricity. Wind farms are located in areas with reliably favourable wind speeds, and can be comprised of 10 to over 100 turbines.

Renewable energy is generated from sources that are essentially inexhaustible. Unlike the burning of fossil fuels, of which there is a finite supply, renewable energy sources are more sustainable, cause relatively few environmental impacts and pose very low risk to human health.

Renewable energy sources include technologies such as wind power, solar photovoltaic and thermal energy, water power, geothermal energy and biomass energy. 

Solar and wind power are the fastest-growing types of electricity generation in the world.

Green power is synonymous with renewable energy. Resulting in lower air pollution emissions and no nuclear waste, green power is clean electricity. The term is used to describe consumer preferences for choices for electricity generated by environment-friendly technologies.

Wind power is particularly suitable for Ontario for many reasons. 

• It is cost competitive.
• Ontario depends significantly on water power, and wind power generation complements this very well. When wind speeds are relatively high, water power generation can be reduced and the water stored in reservoirs until winds are calmer.
• When wind farms provide power to the electricity grid, they allow polluting fossil-fuel-fired plants to be turned down, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Wind power provides energy security because it reduces Ontario’s dependency on imports of electricity and/or combustion of fossil fuels, and because the free “fuel” is not subject to international price volatility.
• Wind power will further diversify Ontario’s energy supply mix, helping the Government of Ontario achieve its target of producing an additional 10% of its electricity from renewable sources of energy by 2010.
• Since it is clean, the use of wind power reduces toxic wastes and air or water pollution that can be fatal to people and wildlife, and greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

In Canada, total installed wind power capacity increased between 2001 and 2007 at a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 45% per year, and 26% in the United States. Total installed capacity around the world increased from 2001 to 2007 at a CAGR of 26%.

Wind is variable, but as an increasing number wind farms are developed throughout Ontario, wind power will become a more reliable source of energy for Ontario. This is because most of the time, wind is blowing in many regions near Ontario's power grid, and most wind farms generate at least some power most of the time. In addition, wind power can allow hydro electric stations to store water for generation when the wind is calmer.

Since wind "fuel" is abundant, inexhaustible, widely distributed and free, wind power delivers cost-effective electricity closer to points of demand.

Wind power allows water power reservoirs to retain more water for future needs and reduces the need for conventional plant back-up.

The Ontario grid has back-up regardless of wind power. Back-up is needed for all forms of energy generation because of unexpected increases in demand or plant shut-downs. In fact, one of the biggest back-up requirements on the grid is due to nuclear reactors - because when one shuts down, it can quickly remove a huge amount of capacity - unlike wind farms where variations are both moderate and predictable. Only when there is a very large capacity of wind on the grid (above 10% of total supply) does the variation of the wind even become noticeable over the 'normal' variation on the grid. And only then would back-up water power or coal- or gas-fired power be required. It is widely accepted that only very minor levels of back-up are needed for wind up to about 20% wind power on the grid (Ontario presently has only a small fraction of its power supply from wind – less than 1%). In the near future, a wide range of renewable energy technologies will complement one another and offer a secure and clean energy system - including both primary generation and back-up. *source: www.yes2wind.com

Yes; the wind projects announced in the province's recent Requests For Proposals (RFPs) represent a portion of Ontario's commitment to develop 10% additional energy capacity from new renewable sources by 2010 and are key to the government's long-term strategy for meeting its energy supply and emission reduction objectives.

The supply mix directive from the Minister of Energy to the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) calls for 5,000 MW of renewable energy, much of which is wind.

Although it is a relatively new industry, it is subsidized to a much lesser extent than the nuclear and fossil-fuel-fired power generation industries, yet wind power is competitive on the basis of cost per kWh.

Typically, suitable characteristics include:

• Strong and consistent winds, e.g. with a minimum average wind speed of 6 meters per second or 21 kms/hour;
• Support from landowners, local authorities and residents;
• Close proximity to the electricity grid that has the need and capacity to accommodate additional power;
• Compatible land use.