Guest Editorial
Dollars blowing in the wind

The 2006 Global Wind Energy Outlook report states that one third of the world's electricity can be supplied by wind, meaning that 113 billion tones of CO2 can be saved by 2050.

From just 4,800 MW in 1995, the world total has multiplied more than twelve-fold to reach over 59,000 MW at the end of 2005. The international market is expected to have an annual turnover in 2006 of more than 13 billion (Euros), with an estimated 150,000 people employed around the world.

Canada also had a record year, with the installed capacity more than doubling from 683 MW in 2005 to 1459 MW at the end of 2006. In 2006, Ontario became the second province in Canada, after Prince Edward Island, to enact a feed-in tariff. Public competitive bidding policies continued in Quebec where Hydro-Quebec had originally issued a second solicitation for 2000 MW of wind power in 2005, following the first solicitation for 1000 MW in 2004.

"Wind energy is an emerging Canadian success story and 2006 will be remembered as the year that our country first began to seriously capture its economic and environmental benefits," said Robert Hornung, President of the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA). "Canada is on the cusp of a wind energy boom as provincial governments are now targeting to have a minimum of 10,000 MW of installed wind energy capacity in place by 2015."

What does this really mean for Canada's small and medium-sized businesses?

First, using wind power energy can add a competitive edge to operations. One of the largest items in many businesses is the cost of acquiring electricity. Current wind turbine technology is fast developing more efficient means of acquiring the wind and turning it into useable power at a cheaper acquisition cost than fossil fuel based energy. This then means the electric bill will consequently be lower and growing lower as newer designs come onto the market.

In Ontario, the government is offering a premium price for buying renewable energy from private sources. As SMEs develop their own wind power generation, there exists the real possibility of not only eliminating the need to buy outside electricity but also the real possibility of earning real dollars for selling back to the grid excess power not needed.

Even small properties can participate, as there are different sizes of turbines now available to take advantage of different needs. A property owner hosting a number of businesses in a building or the operator of an industrial park can significantly reduce electricity costs that can also act as inducements for new tenants to sign up for leases.

Moreover, governments at all levels are offering serious subsidies to encourage the conversion to renewable energy sources and to wean away from gas house causing energy sources.

"Wind energy is the most attractive solution to the world's energy challenges. It is clean and fuel-free. Moreover, wind is indigenous and enough wind blows across the globe to cope with the ever-increasing electricity demand. Wind technology is not a dream for the future - it is real, it is mature and it can be deployed on a large scale," assures Arthouros Zervos, Global Wind Energy Council's chairman.

A private Toronto wind power development company states that that 10% to 20% of an average company's electrical usage could be generated through a wind farm park, further stating that the company is currently in development talks with over 40 companies across Canada, directly working with individual companies of all sizes to develop viable energy strategies.

Industry experts are claiming that over the next five years between 10,000 and 15,000 megawatts of wind energy installed in Canada.

So, if someone walked into your office offering a cheaper alternative to purchasing electricity with the real possibility of earning extra dollars on a system that would pay for itself within a short time period with the help of various governments, reduce operating costs and be counted as an environmental friendly business to boot, what would be your answer?

Submitted by Mark Borkowski, president of Toronto based Mercantile Mergers & Acquisitions Corporation, a mid-market mergers & acquisitions brokerage firm.