Undertaking the Renovation of the Canadian Renewable Energy and Battery Energy Storage Map

Screenshot of the Canadian Renewable Energy & Battery Energy Storage Map

In an era of climate consciousness, renewable energy remains a topic at the forefront of global discussion. Today, just 29% of energy comes from renewable resources, but that number continues to grow—in Canada alone, renewable energy generation grew by 11% in 2023. With excitement for future projects building, Dr. John Parkins recognized a gap in accessing data on Canadian renewable projects and sought to change that. 

Back in 2019, John worked with his graduate students, Sonak Patel, Andrea Miller and Elizabeth Dowell, to establish the Canadian Renewable Energy and Battery Energy Storage Map—an online interactive map of all renewable energy projects in Canada. With the fifth anniversary of the project’s launch approaching, this summer was an opportune time to refresh the map’s data. Joining John’s research team for the summer were Aela Fezjulla and Jenna Pare, environmental and conservation science students in the final years of their undergraduate program. 

“We were motivated to do this project to show and really visualize the energy transition and the renewable energy sector in Canada,” Jenna shares. “It was a great hands-on experience and both of our first time working in a lab. John and his team were great mentors, I learned a lot.”

The first version of the open-access, interactive map included a comprehensive list of renewable energy projects that support above 1 megawatt of energy. Projects are filtered by energy generation categories (specifically biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric, solar, tidal, and wind energy). For each renewable energy project, Aela and Jenna looked at the project owner’s name, ownership type, project location in terms of longitude and latitude, and energy generation type and capacity.

“We began by making updates to the original database, which was first created in 2019,” explains Aela. “Then we also added three new map layers, which are battery energy storage projects categorized by energy output, Indigenous renewable energy projects, and annual photovoltaic—or solar energy—output potential. These three new layers are currently available to view on the live Canadian Renewable Energy and Battery Energy Storage Map.”

The team worked with the University of Guelph in Ontario and British Columbia’s Royal Roads University to collect and verify the data they needed and build the new layers. Two additional layers, which will be community-owned energy projects and energy co-operations, are in the process of being developed and will be added to the map later.

“Although we don’t have exact statistics on who accesses it the most, the [Canadian Renewable Energy and Battery Energy Storage] Map is meant to be open-access for everyone—students, researchers, and industry professionals,” Jenna clarifies. “When we updated the database this summer, we kept in mind that the map needed to be updated often so that moving forward, it could provide a more accurate and reliable snapshot of the renewable sector here in Canada.”

Accuracy and reliability in this data-driven approach aim to advance Canada's renewable energy initiatives. For example, the new solar energy potential layer can inform industry professionals and future energy developers about the best sites for their projects around the country. These qualities also paint an excellent picture for visualizing just how far Canada’s renewable energy sector has evolved in the past five years. 

“Canada’s uptick in renewable energy projects is one thing that really stood out to me at the end of all this,” Aela reflects. “There has been an increase in the number of projects, but also increases in different kinds of ownership structures. The Indigenous layer, for example, shows Canada’s efforts in renewable energy growth, but also the country’s efforts toward reconciliation within the clean energy sector. It’s inspiring to see five years’ worth of progress in one place.”

A summary report, including motivations and methodologies, can be found here. 

Further Reading

By the Numbers – Canadian Renewable Energy Association 

Canadian Renewable Energy Project Map 

Renewable energy – powering a safer future | United Nations