ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (ATS) officially opened its Photowatt Ontario Green Wing production facility November 25 in Cambridge, Ontario. Energy Minister Brad Duguid and John Milloy, MPP for Kitchener Centre and Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, were on hand to help mark the major milestone for solar manufacturing in Ontario.
Photowatt Ontario offers turnkey solar project development, installation and solar products, and has begun production of photovoltaic modules on a new 100MW line at the ATS campus in Cambridge. The “Made in Ontario” production will meet rapidly growing Ontario demand from residential, commercial and industrial markets as well as large-scale solar fields. The line was designed and built by the ATS Cambridge Automation division.
ATS made its investment to serve the Ontario solar market with module manufacturing and turnkey solar installations, and has initially created 150 jobs at ATS. ATS believes that overall job creation related to solar energy in the province will be similar to Europe, where solar industry experience and International Energy Agency analysis estimate approximately 40 jobs have been created for every megawatt of solar capacity installed. ATS says it has the ability, facilities and resources to rapidly expand beyond the initial 100MW capacity, as demand from the Ontario marketplace and beyond grows.
“We commend Ontario for taking meaningful steps in addressing our aging electrical transmission system, greenhouse gas emissions, outdated power generation and manufacturing jobs lost in the economic downturn of 2008,” said Anthony Caputo, President and CEO, ATS Automation. “The Green Energy Act is very progressive and the feed-in tariff program accomplishes many of these multifaceted objectives.
“The module line is one important element of ATS’ Green Wing. We have started with panel manufacturing but are in numerous discussions with potential partners in many facets of the green energy industry. Industry seeks stability, predictability and steadfast application of rules and regulations. This type of environment will continue to attract investment, respect the competitive process, foster innovation and create new jobs,” Caputo concluded.
In addition, on December 6 SunEdison, a subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc., announced that its affiliate, MEMC Singapore, is partnering with Flextronics to produce photovoltaic panels at Flextronics’ facility in Newmarket, Ontario. Located in York Region, production of the solar panels is expected to result in more than 100 new jobs for the province.
Scheduled to begin production during the second quarter of 2011, Flextronics will produce MEMC branded solar panels that will be used by SunEdison for its solar PV projects. This will enable SunEdison and its project partners to exceed the 60 percent domestic content requirement of Ontario’s Feed-in Tariff Program while supporting SunEdison’s anticipated growth in the region.
Earlier in November, SunEdison had also announced that it would be producing solar racking equipment with Samco Solar, a division of Samco Machinery Ltd. based in Scarborough.
Websites for more information: http://www.atsautomation.com/, http://www.flextronics.com.