The Alberta government announced a bidding process March 24 for renewable energy companies to produce 400 megawatts of electrical generation by the end of 2019, and it plans to encourage development of projects to provide 5,000 megawatts from renewable sources by 2030.
Energy Minister Margaret McCuaig-Boyd said the bidding process is expected to attract “at least $10.5 billion in investment by 2030.”
Through its climate leadership plan, the province has announced a goal of generating 30 percent of its electrical needs from renewable sources by the year 2030.
It has announced plans to shut down the province’s coal-fired plants, which now supply 51 percent of Alberta’s electrical needs.
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In 2016, about 10 percent of the province’s electrical energy came from renewable projects.
McCuaig-Boyd said successful projects, to be announced by the end of the year, will be private investments “supported by carbon revenues from large industrial emitters.”
They will not be funded by consumer electricity charges.
Projects that win the bidding will be expected to come into operation by the end of 2019, said a government news release.
The bid process is running through the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO). Expressions of interest in the first 400 megawatts will be accepted starting March 31.
