Jan 11 2010
Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) announced that wind power generation in Ontario has increased by more than 60% in 2009 when compared to the wind power generated during the year 2008.
While the wind power generation increased to 2.3 terawatt hours (TWh) from the commercial wind farms in Ontario during 2009, the power output from coal-fired plants declined from 23.2 TWh that was generated in the year 2008 to 9.8 TWh in the year 2009. The power generated from the coal-fired plants in 2009 represents the lowest output in 45 years.
Paul Murphy, President and CEO of the IESO, said that the company is making substantial progress to integrate electricity generated from renewable sources. The demand for electricity in Ontario declined by 6.1% in 2009, when compared to the year 2008, due to various factors including mild weather, conservation efforts and economic recession. The demand was at its lowest level since 1997 at 139 TWh. While the peak hourly demand increased marginally in 2009 to 24,380 MW, it was well below the peak demand of 27,005 MW that was set in the year 2006.
Except for production from hydro and nuclear sources, which was reasonably constant, the output from all other sources declined. About 82.5 TWh of electricity was produced from nuclear generation in 2009, a slight decline of 1.9 TWh from the previous year. The hydroelectric generation was 38.1 TWh, a marginal decline of 0.2 TWh from the year 2008.
Of the total electricity output generated during the year 2009, nuclear and hydroelectric generation represented 55.2% and 25.5% respectively. Contribution from natural gas, coal-fired plants, and wind were 10.3%, 6.6%, and 1.6% respectively. Electricity generated from other fuel sources such as solar, biomass contributed 0.8%.
Source: www.ieso.ca