Generation
| Electricity generation in Canada |
|---|
| Hydroelectric Nuclear Coal Natural gas Wind Solar |
In 2007, Canada generated 617.5 terawatt-hours (TWh), which ranks the country 7th worldwide. Approximately 822 generating stations are scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific, for a nameplate capacity of 124,240 megawatts (MW). The 100 largest generating stations in Canada have a combined capacity of 102,341 MW. In comparison, the total installed capacity of Canada was 111,000 MW in 2000.
In 2007, the leading type of power generation by utilities in Canada is hydroelectricity, with a share of 58.7%. Coal (16.6%), nuclear (15.5%), natural gas (6.6%), fuel oil (1.2%), wind (0.5%) and wood (0.3%) follow. Other sources, such as petroleum coke make up the remaining 0.7%.
However, these figures do not account for the variety of provincial generation mixes. Historic producers of coal, like Alberta (73.6%), Saskatchewan (61%) and Nova Scotia (56.8%), have come to rely mainly on coal-fired generating stations. In hydro-rich provinces, such as Quebec (94%), British Columbia (94.8%), Newfoundland and Labrador (96.8%) Manitoba (97.7%), Yukon (93.2%) and the Northwest Territories (75.1%), hydroelectric power accounts for the bulk of all electric generation.
In Canada's most populated province, Ontario Hydro has developed 11,990 MW of nuclear capacity between 1966 and 1993, building 18 CANDU reactors at 3 sites: Pickering, Darlington and Bruce. New Brunswick and by extension, Prince Edward Island, which buys 96% of its power from the neighbouring province, has a diversified mix, including a nuclear reactor and hydroelectric dams. However, the province is dependent on expensive fuel oil generation.
The electrical generating capacities of the provinces and territories in Canada are broken down below. Numbers are given in megawatts (MW) and gigawatt-hours (GWh). The tables below use 2007 data from Statistics Canada.
Read more about this topic: Electricity Sector In Canada
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