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Dear John,
The federal government’s plan to make all electricity generation in Canada carbon-free by 2035 is impractical and highly unlikely, given physical, infrastructure, financial, and regulatory realities.
A new Fraser Institute study published today finds that in 2023, nearly 81% of Canada’s electricity came from carbon-free energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, wind, and solar.
But to replace the remaining 19% (which does use fossil fuels) in the next 10 years would require constructing the equivalent of:
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Approximately 23 large hydroelectric dams, similar in size to BC’s Site C, or;
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More than four nuclear power plants similar in size to Ontario’s Darlington power station, or;
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Around 11,000 large wind turbines, which would not only require substantial investments in back-up power systems (since wind is intermittent) but would also require clearing 7,302 square kilometers of land — larger than the size of Prince Edward Island — excluding the additional land required for transmission infrastructure.
BC’s Site C project alone took approximately 43 years from the initial planning studies in 1971 to receive environmental certification in 2014, with completion expected in 2025 at a cost of $16 billion.
It is not at all realistic that this scale of energy infrastructure can be planned, approved, financed, and built in just 10 years.
Check out the full study here and be sure to share this news with your friends and colleagues.
Sincerely,
Niels Veldhuis
President
The Fraser Institute
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