ecoENERGY Renewable Initiative: Increasing Canada's Renewable ecoENERGY Supplies

January 19, 2007

Clean, renewable energy technologies for generating electricity and for heating and cooling air and water in buildings and homes are not widely used in Canada. This is because they are generally less familiar to Canadians and more expensive than traditional energy sources. Through its ecoENERGY Renewable Initiative, the Government of Canada is investing more than $1.5 billion in two initiatives to make clean, low-impact renewable energy more available and less expensive.

ecoENERGY for Renewable Power

Today, about four percent of Canada's electricity supply comes from emerging clean, renewable, power sources like wind, biomass and small hydro. The investment of $1.48 billion in ecoENERGY for Renewable Power aims to boost Canada's supply of renewable electricity by 4,000 megawatts.

To help close the price gap between emerging renewable and traditional electricity sources, the program will provide an incentive of one cent per kilowatt hour for up to 10 years to eligible projects constructed over the next four years that generate clean electricity from renewable sources. These sources can include wind, small hydro, biomass, solar photovoltaic, geothermal, tidal and wave technologies, all of which generate few or zero harmful emissions.

ecoENERGY for Renewable Power is anticipated to add enough clean renewable electricity to power about one million homes and deliver reductions in greenhouse gas emissions reductions equivalent to taking one million cars off the road. It will also contribute to cutting a wide range of air pollutants.

ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat

About 23 percent of Canada's secondary energy supply goes to water heating, and space heating and cooling in residential, commercial and institutional buildings. High economic and environmental costs of traditional these clean-energy systems, such as solar air and water heating, and geothermal technologies such as ground-source heat pumps, remain generally unfamiliar to consumers and more expensive than traditional sources.

An investment of $36 million in the Government of Canada's ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat will increase the use of clean renewable technologies through a mix of incentives and support for the development of industry capacity.

An incentive will be offered to purchasers of solar heating systems in the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors. The incentive will be set at 25 percent of the purchase, installation and certain other costs of a qualifying system.

Preliminary estimates suggest that, by 2011, the program will support the installation of solar space and water heating in about 700 buildings.

In addition, in partnership with energy utilities, energy service companies, community groups and other interested partners, projects will be undertaken to explore increasing the market for residential solar hot-water2007-09-05 of solar hot-water systems into several thousand homes across the country.

ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat will also help establish solar and geothermal technologies in the marketplace by supporting the development of standards and certification, promoting the adoption of these technologies in building codes and provincial and municipal regulations, and training energy designers, technicians and installers.

These Government of Canada investments in low-impact renewable electricity and heat will complement initiatives in several provinces and territories that have tax exemptions, rebates and other programs promoting the adoption of renewable energy technologies. The initiatives will be rolled out in the 2007–08 fiscal year. Additional program details are being developed and will be available in April.