Developing an offshore wind 'Innovation Chain'
The Great Lakes has the largest amount of offshore wind development potential in North America, and Ontario has the largest amount of development potential in The Great Lakes. Ontario, therefore, has an important leadership role in transforming The Great Lakes region into a global hub for renewable energy manufacturing and innovation. True sustainable prosperity.
Recent actions by the Ontario Ministers of Energy, Environment and Natural Resources against offshore wind development, including far-offshore wind, have harmed the development of long-term well-paying sustainable jobs in manufacturing and construction and to provide much needed tax revenues to apply against a significant provincial deficit. Trillium Power's TPW1 offshore wind farm, directly on bedrock 17 km to 28 km from the mainland, is Ontario's catalyst for developing a globally-competitive offshore wind sector and to become a North American leader.
Trillium Power Wind Corporation will privately invest approximately C$1.6 billion into the TPW1 project and help generate many economic opportunities. According to a recent Conference Board of Canada (CBoC) report on the Employment and Economic Impacts of Ontario's Future Offshore Wind Power Industry, just 2,000 MW of Offshore Wind development in Ontario over a 15 year period (just 18.6% of the 10,700 MW of renewable energy that Ontario is committed to producing by 2018) would create:
- Approximately 6,500 new jobs in manufacturing, services, O&M and RDD&D;
- Between 55,000 and 62,000 new person-years of employment in construction;
- $10.44 Billion in real capital investment and operations spending;
- An increase in Ontario's gross domestic product of $5.5 Billion;
- Generate taxes for the Ontario and Canadian governments of between $1.03 and $1.13 Billion (not including corporate taxes);
- A strong new era of green-collar manufacturing in Ontario;
- Substantial new demand for local products and services; and,
- Contributions to the municipal tax base and infrastructure.
A new supply chain paradigm referred to as the "Innovation Chain" emphasizes all the components necessary to maximize economic benefits from a particular sector. They include: Research and Development, Demonstration and Deployment (RDD&D).
Source. International Energy Agency, G8 (Siracusa, Italy) Ensuring Green Growth in a Time of Economic Crisis: The Role of Energy Technology, Page 7.
The Importance of Deployment Capacity
Especially vital to maximizing Ontario's economic benefit from offshore wind is the development of deployment capacity, in other words, the construction of turbines and components in the province and Great Lakes region rather than their procurement from elsewhere.
According to International Energy Agency estimates, deployment accounts for approximately 90% of the total economic benefit arising from RDD&D investments. Unfortunately, many North American jurisdictions and organizations have focused heavily on Research & Development rather than implementation of the full Innovation Chain, which has provided the foundation for a vibrant renewable energy economy in Europe.
Source. International Energy Agency, G8 (Siracusa, Italy) Ensuring Green Growth in a Time of Economic Crisis: The Role of Energy Technology, Page 7.