Canada’s Oil-Rich Alberta Province Halts Renewable-Energy Projects

livemint.com:

TORONTO—Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta has become the latest jurisdiction to push back against renewable-energy initiatives, declaring a seven-month moratorium on new wind and solar projects. The pause put in place by the province’s conservative government has provoked criticism from members of the renewables industry, which says the move threatens to undermine a fast-growing sector that has been contributing a growing share of energy to Alberta’s power grid. Alberta, which is home to Canada’s oil sands, the fourth-largest oil reserve in the world, announced earlier this month that it would pause until Feb.

29, 2024, approvals of any renewable-energy projects that produce over 1 megawatt of power. Alberta wants to study how the projects affect the power grid, their impact on the environment and what the government called “Alberta’s pristine viewscapes." The government also wants to consider end-of-life rules for solar farms and windmill projects. The action has effectively put at risk 80 projects worth roughly $15 billion, said Vittoria Bellissimo, president and chief executive of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association, an industry group.

“We are concerned and disappointed," she said. More than 75% of all renewable projects built in Canada last year were in Alberta, adding about 1,391 megawatts of power to the provincial grid, she said. Alberta’s actions complicate a broader push by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to lower carbon emissions from Canada’s electricity grid.