New Report Predicts Thousands of New Jobs and Billions in Investment From Ontario Wind Energy

image courtesy of rechargenews.com

If you've driven through Southern Ontario at all in the past few years, you're bound to have see them. The lazy turns of wind turbines contributing to provincial energy demands are a common sight, and according to a new report they're set to make a landmark contribution to the economy.

ClearSky Advisors were commissioned by the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) to undertake the most comprehensive study on the economic impact of wind energy for Ontario to date.

The report, The Economic Impacts of the Wind Energy Sector in Ontario 2011-2018 [pdf], essentially quantifies CanWEA's projected job benefits and economic impact from Ontario's wind energy sector- and the numbers are considerable. 

Over the next seven years, the report forecasts serious job growth and investment:

• More than C$16 billion in private sector investments will flow into Ontario, with approximately $8.5 billion invested locally.
   
• Wind energy developments will contribute more than C$1.1 billion in revenues to local municipalities and landowners in the form of taxes and lease payments over the 20-year lifespan of the projects.
   
• The wind energy sector will create 80,328 person Years of Employment from 2011 to 2018.
   
• On an annual basis, the number of jobs created varies from a low of 5,708 Person Years of Employment in 2011 to a peak of 14,249 Person Years of Employment in 2014.

“The Green Energy and Economy Act and the Long Term Energy Plan have opened up the market in Ontario for wind energy and will allow faster growth than otherwise would be the case,” says Tim Wohlgemut, Co-founder and Principal Consultant at ClearSky.

“Ontario has been put on the global map for renewable energy development and this has the potential to create a significant number of highly skilled jobs, and attract billions in investment to the province.”

All this sounds like great news, but upcoming provincial elections could very well prevent this growth from ever going forward as much of the industry relies heavily on subsidies. Regardless, the predictions are anything but bad for a province in need of positive economic boost.