Can the province of Québec (Canada) learn from Sweden in the field of wind power energy?

Abstract: For several years now it has been indicated by the scientific research that human activity has a definite impact on the temperature of the Earth. There are different ways of reducing anthropogenic climate change, to consume less energy for instance, but also to use renewable sources of energy. Since the wind power market is growing rapidly lately, it seemed interesting to compare how different countries have developed wind power energy and how they intend to do it in the future. Sweden has developed wind power energy for a long time and since Québec, a Canadian province, is similar to the Scandinavian country in many aspects; it was interesting to determine if the province of Québec in Canada can learn from Sweden in the field of wind power energy. When looking to stimulate wind power on their respective territories, it seems that Sweden and Québec have very different approaches to the development of that energy. In Québec, the governmental policy is criticised because it gives too much latitude to private companies when it is almost the opposite in Sweden, where the government is charged to have introduced too many restrictions and environmental policies that hinder the development of wind power. The conclusion is that Québec can learn from Sweden and from Sweden’s mistakes in the wind energy sector, but also from more successful countries like Denmark and Germany. First, Québec could benefit from having a more decentralised development strategy i.e. giving more power to local authorities and local populations. Second, Québec needs stronger economic incentives providing a stable market for developers.