Canada’s Fast-Growing Wind Power Business – Stocks That Could Benefit
Canada has one of the world's fastest-growing wind power industries and an expanding number of interesting wind power companies.

Canada’s wind power market capacity doubled in size to 1,468MW during 2006, making it in 2007 the world’s seventh-largest wind power market. According to a report by Emerging Energy Research, the country will add 1,400MW of capacity annually until 2015, with a total investment of some C$18 billion. Canada could even move into the top five of the world’s wind power market by 2009, according to the report.

Most of the work has been carried out by the big global firms – Vestas of Denmark has been responsible for more than 80 per cent of the market – and no Canadian enterprise is among the world’s Big Ten wind power equipment suppliers.

However, thanks to government incentives, along with local content requirements, the country has a growing number of smaller companies actively involved in wind power developments. Here are brief introductions to some that are listed on stock exchanges. Be aware that some are tiny. Some have no profits. Some do not even have revenues.

AAER is a small Quebec manufacturer of wind turbines, with production due to commence in the second quarter of 2008, using European technology. It aims to supply the North American market, and its strategy is to target smaller onshore projects that are often overlooked by the multi-nationals.

Canadian Hydro is a leading renewable energy supplier. It operates 12 hydro-electric power sites, seven wind farms – in Alberta and Ontario – and one biomass plant. It is developing new wind projects in Ontario and Quebec.

Greenwind Power Corp is a Vancouver company, founded in 2001, that is developing wind farms in South-West Alberta. It says this region is “one of the strongest and steadiest wind regimes found anywhere in the world”.

NaiKun Wind Development plans to build and operate a large-scale wind energy project off the North-West coast of British Columbia. Construction is expected to begin in 2009, with an eventual goal of a wind farm generating 1,750MW.

Renewable Energy Generation is a British company that is developing wind farms in the UK and Canada, the latter through its subsidiary AIM Powergen.

Sea Breeze Power Corp was founded in 1991 as Powerhouse Energy. It has eight small wind farm projects in varying stages of development around Vancouver. It is also working on a hydro-electric development in Southern British Columbia, and it is involved in power transmission projects.

Shear Wind, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was founded in 2005. It has five wind farms – four in Alberta and one in Nova Scotia – in various feasibility and development stages, and it is also investigating sites elsewhere in Canada.

TransCanada, a major electricity and gas supplier, owns 62 per cent of Cartier Wind Energy, which has a major wind energy project in Quebec. TransCanada is also involved in other developments in Canada and the US.

* Learn more on the attractions of the Canadian wind sector in the ebook Investing in Canadian Wind Energy.

January 26th, 2008

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Canada’s Fast-Growing Wind Power Business – Stocks That Could Benefit Canada has one of the world's fastest-growing wind power industries and an expanding number of interesting wind power companies.

Canada’s Fast-Growing Wind Power Business – Stocks That Could Benefit
Canada has one of the world's fastest-growing wind power industries and an expanding number of interesting wind power companies.