The Canadian Renewable Energy Association represents the wind energy, solar energy and energy-storage solutions that will power Canada’s energy future.
While solar, wind and energy storage are unique and distinct technologies, they are also natural allies.
On their own, each technology represents a tremendous economic opportunity for Canada, but it’s their ability to work together that really make them shine.
Three Technologies that Work Together:
- Everywhere: Wind and solar energy resources are abundant in all regions of the country. Thanks to a diversity of energy storage technologies, all regions have opportunities to maximize their deployment.
- At Scale: These three technologies (wind energy, solar energy, energy storage) are all scalable: they can be deployed in large utility-scale configurations by corporations or installed by consumers on a smaller scale at homes or cottages.
- More and More: All three of these technologies have experienced rapid growth over the last decade. In fact, technological evolution has produced a decline in costs so rapid that these technologies can now provide energy, and a broad range of services to the electricity system, more or as cheaply as the conventional technologies used to date.
- For Net-Zero: It is broadly understood that wind, solar and energy-storage technologies will play a key role in Canada’s transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as the production of electricity from wind and solar energy generates no greenhouse gas emissions, no air or water pollution, and no toxic or hazardous wastes.
- In Communities: Wind and solar energy projects also provide significant economic benefits to hundreds of communities across Canada, through tax payments to municipalities, lease payments to landowners and direct financial contributions to communities.
Deployed in a complementary manner, wind, solar and energy storage can provide comprehensive solutions for our energy needs. When used together, these solutions are even more complete than when deployed independently of each other. For example:
- Wind and solar energy both provide low-cost power, but wind-energy production typically peaks at night and during the winter months, while solar-energy production peaks in the daytime and during the summer months.
- While wind and solar energy both provide services that contribute to the reliability of the electricity grid, they have even more impact when coupled with energy-storage technologies.
- This kind of synergy works at any scale, from household to utility-level. These technologies are so flexible that they can meet a wide range of local needs and challenges, both now and in the future.
- Canada is seeing more and more co-located or hybrid projects that capture the opportunities these synergies provide. Learn more about hybrid applications here.
- It’s no wonder that many companies are now expanding their business to incorporate more than one of these technologies (wind, solar and storage), to better meet customer needs. A list of CanREA member companies is available here.
While wind, solar and energy storage are unique and distinct technologies, they are natural allies. Learn more about these technologies with so much potential to work together: wind, solar, storage, hybrid.