The amount of wind energy produced in Ontario has been on a steady incline in recent years, and last year was enough to power 550,000 homes in the province, according to a new report.
In its 2013 Ontario Electricity Data report, the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) found that the production of wind energy in Ontario has doubled over the last four years, reaching 5.2 terawatt hours in 2013.
That’s up from 2.3 TWh in 2009, according to the report.
“We believe that future electricity supply in Ontario should be drawn from a balanced mix of new wind energy, in combination with natural gas and other renewable energy sources, to ensure that Ontario has a reliable, robust and cost-competitive electricity system,” Robert Hornung, president of the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA), said in a release.
Natural gas production slid to 17.1 TWh in 2013 after feeding 22.2 TWh of power into the grid in 2012.
A category listed as “other” in the report—which a spokesperson said includes biomass production—accounted for 1.3 TWh last year.
That number has been static for the last four years, according to the report, fluctuating between 1.2 and 1.3 TWh since 2009.
Nuclear power is still by-and-large the province’s biggest contributor, accounting for 91.1 TWh—or 59.2 per cent of Ontario’s energy needs—in 2013.
That number is up from 85.6 TWh, or 56.4 per cent of demand, the previous year.
Coal generation, which had ceased production in southern Ontario by the end of the year, generated only 3.2 TWh—2.1 per cent—of total production in 2013.
Electricity imports from neighbouring jurisdictions were up slightly to 4.9 TWh in 2013, while exports rose to 18.3 TWh.