Canada’s 2023 wildfires cut solar generation by 2.8%, costing $2 billion

Canada’s 2023 wildfire season was unprecedented in scale, with nearly 15 million hectares of forest burned, more than seven times the average annual area of the previous 40 years. The fires generated enormous quantities of smoke and aerosols that spread across Canada, the United States, and the North Atlantic, reaching Europe and affecting atmospheric conditions far beyond the areas directly impacted by the fires.

A new study in Communications Earth & Environment investigates one of the less visible consequences of this extreme event: its impact on solar energy production. Using the EC-Earth3 Earth system model, the researchers estimate that wildfire smoke reduced photovoltaic generation across North America and Europe by approximately 6.38 terawatt hours between May and September 2023, equivalent to 2.8% of total photovoltaic generation during these 5 months.

The resulting reduction in solar electricity was associated with an estimated 2.08 million tonnes of additional CO₂ emissions and an economic deficit of around US$1.9billion. The findings demonstrate that extreme wildfires can have transboundary impacts on renewable energy systems, highlighting the importance of incorporating wildfire smoke and atmospheric pollution into solar-energy planning and energy-system security.