Renewable energy met an all-new demand for electricity in 2025. According to a new review of global power generation, halting the growth of fossil fuel-powered generation and highlighting the promise of clean resources such as wind and solar is once again on the rise and is at an all-time high as countries, including Canada and its provinces, are leaning more into their natural resources for electricity.
How wind and solar are changing the Alberta electricity mix, and subsequently the market and energy rates, is what we’ll cover in this article below; everything from changes in the electricity mix to what that means for consumers and businesses, and more.
Changes in the Alberta electricity mix caused by wind and solar
Changes in the Alberta electricity mix can and have varied over the last few years as wind, solar, and coal have ebbed and flowed throughout the province for use. The transition from coal, for example, generated some temporary rate spikes as the supply vs demand balanced change a bit at first.
The Global Electricity Review, released annually by Ember, an international energy research organization, says that clean sources, especially solar, are growing fast enough and are cheap enough that they are stopping new fossil fuel-powered electricity generation.
Electricity from solar and wind increased, while there was no change to the amount of electricity produced from burning fossil fuels. Solar is one of the most scalable technologies that can deliver fast change, and a large-scale change in how the energy system works is on track to be a good change. Despite our country’s history in non-emitting sources of energy like nuclear and hydro, solar and wind are now the cheapest forms of energy and account for just under 9% of electricity generation in Canada, which is well below the G7 average of 19%.
The federal government has released its Clean Electricity Regulations that would come into effect in 2035 and would gradually require all electricity generation to be from non-emitting sources by 2050. There have been recent moves to greenlight new renewable energy projects, especially in Ontario, Quebec, and BC. Alberta has always been on a seesaw for electricity generation, as in some years it is ahead in wind and solar generation, and then there are petitions to stop new coal generation from being done in the Rocky Mountains.
Canada as a whole has not entirely started its transition to solar and wind in the power sector to the same degree that many other countries have. The United States, for example, is even ahead of Canada on wind and solar, as it makes up for 19% of its generation. Canada, however, has an overall much cleaner output because of the country’s dominance in hydropower. Hydro alone accounts for half of the country’s power generation, and fossil fuels are only 23%. Hydro and nuclear have given Canada one of the cleanest energy grids in the world, but we can’t rely on it indefinitely. Especially in provinces that have enough space to not only accommodate solar and wind power, but excel at it, such as Alberta.
How do solar and wind affect the supply mix?
The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) is taking steps to ensure that it can maintain a reliable grid while integrating increasing penetrations of variable wind and solar power onto the system. The AESO has implemented a centralized power forecast for use in daily grid operations, allowing for better utilization of power from wind and solar generation while also helping to improve dispatch efficiency and system reliability. The Alberta energy market is a highly monitored system that has stats and other information that can be found here.
A more centralized power forecast benefits the system operations by enabling:
- More efficient dispatch of the system. With a centralized power forecast, system operators have access to detailed information about where, when, and approximately how much electricity will be produced by wind and solar plants in Alberta.
- Greater situational awareness. The wind and solar forecast enhances the AESO’s ability to prepare for wind-ramp events that can occur when chinooks or other high-wind events are predicted.
- These forecasts are based on the currently installed wind and solar capacity listed on their Current Supply and Demand page.
- The 12-hour power forecast updates every 10 minutes.
- The 7-day ahead power forecast updates every hour.
What this means for affecting the supply mix is that the wind and solar combined with natural gas use and other electricity generators in the province, is that the wind and solar are forecasted and can be predicted ahead of time to better ensure a smooth mixed usage, so that when wind and/or solar generation is lower, other generators can still be used to supplement the grid.
How does this affect prices?
Alberta is one of the sunniest and windiest provinces in Canada, and has historically relied on coal and natural gas for electricity generation. Since 2010, the province shifted its energy mix by adding substantial wind and solar capacity while fully phasing out coal in 2024. In August 2023, the province imposed a six-month pause on approvals for large renewable projects to review land use, grid, and reclamation rules.
The pause ended in 2024 when new siting restrictions and reclamation requirements for renewable projects were introduced. That all being said, the province has a deregulated electricity market overseen by the AESO. The AUC (Alberta Utilities Commission) regulates utilities as well as electric transmission and distribution infrastructure.
Alberta electricity rates are affected by a wide range of factors, including supply and demand. Technically, the more supply, the lower the rates. However, due to their intermittent nature, wind and solar may sometimes impact the total generation capacity, as happened in January 2024.
In the long term, the addition of more sources of power to the province has the potential to bring prices down. But there still may be moments when there are temporary electricity price shocks caused by wind or solar power shortages.
Electricity producers and distributors file with the AUC and follow AESO processes to connect to the grid and sell electricity through a competitive bidding process, allowing investors to choose the type and scale of generation projects they wish to develop. All of these factor into affecting prices across the province and how switching to a more solar/wind-based generation will affect electricity bills for households, businesses, and the electricity market itself as the cheaper power generation becomes more in use and overtakes coal and other fossil fuel use within the province.
- In 2023, Alberta generated 83.9 terawatt hours of electricity, with 16.7 TWh coming from renewable sources.
- Renewable capacity grew from 1,976 megawatts in 2010 to 6,346 MW in 2023, which is a 221% increase. Most of this growth came from wind (2,812 MW), followed by solar (1,421 MW), and then biomass (83 MW).
Alberta completed its phase out of coal-fired generation in 2024, with most plants converted to natural gas, either through boiler modification or by combustion turbine with existing steam generators.
Wind and solar have seen significant growth. Wind capacity reached 3,618 MW in 2023, which contributes 21.9% of total generation capacity. Alberta has a relatively long history with wind energy, as commercial wind developments commenced in southern Alberta in the mid 1990’s.
Storage projects/systems in Alberta
Prime Minister Mark Carney has stated in his Forward Guidance video message that he plans to double the size of Canada’s clean energy capacity, which is borne out by analyses looking at the future of electricity production in the country. According to the Canadian Renewable Energy Association, an industry group, solar, wind, and energy storage capacity will double by 2035, based on projects recently approved by provincial utilities, including Alberta.
The Canadian Climate Institute also projects similar increases. Alberta has been the leader when it comes to renewable projects, and currently has the country’s largest solar farms. But the provincial government put a recent temporary freeze on new solar, leading to several projects being cancelled and/or set aside. That said, build-out times are much, much shorter for solar and wind. A project can go from initial planning to finalizing construction in just a few years, whereas typical fossil fuel infrastructure can take 10 to 15 years.
The current and future storage projects and systems in Alberta are:
This section highlights selected renewable electricity and energy storage projects in Alberta, either recently completed or planned for development between 2025 and 2030. This list is not comprehensive and is based on information available as of 2026.
- Homestead Solar Project – A solar project owned by Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure plans to add 400 MW of solar capacity by 2026.
- Brooks Solar Farm – A solar project developed by Solar Kraft and Beargrass Solar JV plans to add 360 MW of solar capacity between 2024 and 2026.
- Bull Trail Wind Project – A wind project owned by EDF Renewables plans to add 300 MW of wind capacity by 2029.
- Jurassic Solar and Battery Storage – A solar and battery storage project developed by Jurassic Solar L.P (Northland Power) plans to add 220 MW of solar capacity and 80 MW of battery storage by 2028.
- eReserve Program – A group of battery energy storage projects developed by Enfinite, added 180 MW of capacity between 2020 and 2024.
- Killarney Lake Solar and Battery Storage Project – A solar and battery energy storage project developed by Montana First Nation plans to add 22.5 MW of solar capacity and 100 MW of storage by 2025.
