On August 3, 2023, the Government of Alberta announced a seven-month moratorium on approvals for new renewable energy (wind, solar, hydro, biomass, and geothermal) projects, citing the need to review the regulatory development framework.
The month after this surprise announcement saw an immediate surge in project applications seeking to be grandfathered under previous rules. After this initial rush, new applications appear to have reached a standstill with only 13 MW proposed since August 31, 2023 and no project proposals since the moratorium was formally lifted in February 2024 (Figure 1).
Fifty-three projects representing 8.6 GW of potential generation capacity have withdrawn applications from Alberta's electricity generation development process since the moratorium was first announced last year. This includes 33 cancelled projects that were at some point in the development process prior to the start of the moratorium on August 3, 2023. These 33 projects could have produced the same amount of power as is used by 98% of Alberta homes in a year.
Taking into account project development and construction timelines, most of the moratorium's impacts on the sector's growth won't be seen until 2025 when fewer renewable energy projects are built.
