Canada’s electricity sector needs $293.8 billion in investment over the next 20 years to replace aging infrastructure, the Conference Board of Canada said Thursday.
That works out to roughly $15 billion of annual investment needed Canada-wide to meet growing power needs through 2030.
A conference board study estimates B.C.’s power upgrades will cost $16 billion over the next 20 years.
“With half of the generation assets built before 1980, the industry faces a pressing need to accelerate investment in infrastructure at all levels,” said Len Coad, director energy, environment and technology policy at the conference board.
Coad said the report supports statements made several weeks ago by BC Hydro president and CEO Dave Cobb, who said more investment in B.C.’s power sector is needed.
The utility wants to spend $6 billion over the next three years to upgrade and expand the power network province-wide (see “BC Hydro files formal request to raise rates” – BIV Business Today; March 3).
http://www.bivinteractive.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3864:bc-hydro-files-formal-request-to-raise-rates&catid=14:daily-news&Itemid=46.)
According to a conference board study, the private sector is expected to contribute at least half of the $293.8 billion needed for electricity generation across the country.
Coad told Business in Vancouver that two-thirds of the $16 billion needed in infrastructure investment in this province would have to come from BC Hydro via of large-scale hydro projects.
“The remaining roughly $5 billion would be in other technologies and smaller projects that could be done by the private sector,” Coad said.
He singled out wind power as the technology most likely to fill the electricity gap in the coming years.
According to the report, B.C.’s energy sector has already planned or proposed 3,442 megawatts of new wind-energy projects.
But whether it’s in B.C. or anywhere else in Canada, Coad believes it’ll be difficult to drum up the investment needed to upgrade the country’s electricity grid.
“Fifteen billion dollars a year worth of investment, on average, in an industry that’s GDP is currently $25 billion represents a significant challenge,” he said.