Canadian Wind Turbines Database

Wind Turbines - Tumbler Ridge, Canada.

Introduction

The Canadian Wind Turbine Database provides detailed information on the geographic locations and key technological specifications of wind turbines installed across Canada. This dataset was created in 2021 through a collaboration between CanmetENERGY-Ottawa and the Centre for Applied Business Research in Energy and the Environment at the University of Alberta, under the direction of Natural Resources Canada. It contains a total of 6,698 existing wind turbines.

Now, EMD is re-distributing this dataset in windPRO and has mapped the turbine metadata against the 1000+ known types within the comprehensive windPRO WTG database. Of the total 6,698 existing turbines, 6,372 turbines are mapped to the known types within the windPRO WTG Catalogue, representing 95.13%. Metadata from the turbine database, including turbine manufacturer, type, capacity, and commissioning date, is added to the wind turbine object in windPRO (see image below).

Availability from within windPRO

Downloading turbines from the Canadian Wind Turbine Database and into windPRO is a simple 1-2-3 process - as outlined in the figures below.

1. Click the "Import existing WTG's" toolbar button.	2. Select the Canadian Wind Turbine. Click "Next" then "Ok" to search for WTG's.	3. Once imported, it's possible to view a detailed description.

Usage Notes

• The database was derived from geodata accessed in August 2024.
• The wind farm data in this dataset is not detailed enough to allow a full mapping to the windPRO WTG Catalogue. If a mapping to a windPRO turbine type is not possible, then the imported WTG-object will be created at the correct position with the following description of the object: Not found: <Manufacturer> - <Rated Power> - <Project Name>. (Depending on the availability of the metadata-information about this particular wind turbine location).
• The update schedule for this dataset is unknown

License and Attribution

These products belong to the open data of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). The data have been licensed under an ‘Open Government License – Canada (version 2.0)' - see here. Please accept the license conditions and use a proper attribution when using these dataset, such as:

Data: Canadian Wind Turbine Database.
License:  Open Government License – Canada.
Source: Distribution through EMD and windPRO. 

Acknowledgements

• We extend our gratitude to Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), CanmetENERGY-Ottawa and the Centre for Applied Business Research in Energy and the Environment at the University of Alberta for producing and disseminating this database as open data. Their efforts significantly contribute to the advancement of renewable energy.

External Links

• Dataset source page from Government of Canada - HERE
• Release announcement from Canada's National Observer - HERE
• Release announcement from North American Clean Energy - HERE