National Renewable Energy Expansion Program

Recommendations for Budget 2006

Recommendation
Canada should establish a National Renewable Energy Expansion Program to guide and support a long-term expansion of Canada’s renewable energy production. Renewable energy sources have the technical potential to meet half of Canada’s long-term electricity needs, to stimulate and to take advantage of tremendous international and domestic market opportunities, and to play an important role in assisting Canadians to reduce their reliance on increasingly costly fossil fuels. The Vision for a Low-Impact Renewable Energy Future for Canada, developed by The Clean Air Renewable Energy Coalition (Visit CARE), whose recommendations have already been adopted in part, merits strong consideration as a basis for such a Program.

The priority steps should be:

• Expanding support for low-impact renewable electricity generation in Canada from the current 4,000 MW (WPPI) and 1,500 MW (RPPI) to a total of 12,000 MW by 2013. A CARE analysis suggests such an incentive would support 6,500 MW of new capacity at a cost of 2.1 billion dollars, between 2009-2014.
• Establishing a 100,000 Solar Roofs Program (Solar PV). An additional 200 MW of PV systems could be installed across Canada, over a 10-year period, thus encouraging direct engagement by residential owners in managing their own electricity costs. CARE has proposed two possible mechanisms to implement such a program: a buy-down program and feed-in tariffs. This cost of this program is estimated at $416-460 million over a period of ten years or more.
• Make commitments to purchase 20% of all the federal government’s heating needs from “green heat” renewable sources of energy (solar water heaters, solar walls, biomass, and earth energy).
• Make commitments to set aside at least 10% of the government’s purchase of green power from solar PV sources.
• Establish a stable long-term program to support the establishment of a solar thermal industry in Canada, including infrastructure development and training, and incentives for commercial and residential users.
• Remove all restrictions on the types of solar technologies and applications covered by the Canadian Renewable Energy and Conservation Expense Class 43.1 tax measures.

Total Investment
$2.6 Billion (over 10 or more years)

Contact:
Marlo Reynolds
Pembina Institute
403-269-3344 ext. 113

Stephen Hazell
Sierra Club of Canada
613-241-4611

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