The pace and character of expansion in the photovoltaic power business is surprising many observers. Not only has Ontario become a world-leading jurisdiction for PV almost overnight, but new market leaders are emerging in the province, and competitive behaviour is taking some unexpected turns. For example, although Enbridge and First Solar attracted attention with the scale of their Sarnia project, SkyPower appears set to ride a wave of expansion, and could be one of the most active PV developers in Canada. Of the 257 MW of contracts for solar energy recently announced by the OPA, SkyPower and its subsidiaries are behind 58% or 148 MW. However, the total pipeline of OPA PV contracts contains 1586 MW, and other new leaders could certainly emerge.
SkyPower was also the developer of First Light I – billed as Canada’s first fully operational large-scale solar park, located in Stone Mills, Ontario, north of Napanee. With dozens of independent “solar parks” in its Ontario pipeline, SkyPower now has 260 MW (DC) of power purchase contracts, 30 MW operating, 50 MW under construction, and 1.4 GW at various advanced stages of development. With the most recent second round of large scale OPA contract awards, SkyPower is certainly one to watch.
But it’s a competitive and constantly evolving business: Other companies are likely vying for some of SkyPower’s market positions and may even be ahead of it by some measures. Of course Enbridge has an early lead with 80 MW in operation, the world’s largest PV project, as mentioned on page 24. SunEdison lined up 31 MW of contracts in the latest round of OPA awards, in addition to its existing portfolio. There is an active business of prospecting for solar sites in Ontario and all kinds of mergers and acquisitions are possible. With so much more capacity in the pipeline than on the ground, the front-runner can shift quickly. Right now, it certainly looks like SkyPower is Ontario’s newest rising star.
Related stories in this feature:
What’s behind Ontario’s PV boom?
Enbridge, First Solar announce more projects
First Solar and the Sarnia solar farm
Ontario’s solar sector evolves to meet the challenge of large scale application
The evolution of PV technology
How much is solar actually costing us?
Extracting additional benefits from solar installations