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Tight credit markets have prompted the government of Prince Edward Island (PEI) in eastern Canada to delay a request for proposals for wind energy development in the hope that it will get a better deal down the road.

"A recent sharp drop in energy prices and increases in the cost of borrowing have prompted government to postpone the request for proposals until some of the economic turmoil passes," the province states. "Current global economic conditions would make it difficult for developers and for the island community to put together favourable wind power development arrangements."

The provincial government unveiled an ambitious C$1 billion strategy in October designed to boost PEI's installed wind energy capacity to 500 MW within five years (“uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç, November 2008). It planned to issue a request for proposals for 300 MW of wind power for export in November, but that has now been put off until April, when the original schedule had the government announcing the winning projects.

The PEI energy department will use the time to finalise legislation and regulations related to wind development and to work on a project to build a new C$95 million high-capacity power cable to the mainland, a key part of its wind export strategy.