Toronto: The Ontario Power Authority announced on February 24 that it had authorized the approval of forty more contracts for renewable-sourced electricity, representing more than 872 MW of capacity. These projects should be able to connect to the grid without major upgrades, noted APPrO Executive Director Jake Brooks, because they were selected by the OPA after having passed the Transmission Availability Test (TAT) or Distribution Availability Test (DAT). Further large-scale OPA contracts will likely depend to a significant extent on construction of new transmission and/or distribution capacity identified through the Economic Connection Test.
Contracts were awarded for 35 projects using solar energy, the OPA added, representing 257 MW, four wind projects, representing 615 MW, and one water project totaling 500 kilowatts. Of these contracts, five have been awarded to community groups and one Aboriginal project has been approved. Combined, the projects will create approximately 7,000 direct and indirect jobs and attract approximately $3 billion in private-sector investment, according to OPA estimates.
This is the second group of large-scale renewable energy projects to receive contracts under Ontario’s Feed-In Tariff Program. Last year, the OPA signed the first 180 contracts for large-scale (larger than 500 kW in capacity) projects. In addition to the large scale contracts, the OPA has a portfolio with hundreds of projects under 500 kW (“Capacity Allocation Exempt”) and thousands of projects under 50 kW (“MicroFit”).
“The Feed-In Tariff program is continuing to meet its objective to encourage more renewable energy to be developed in Ontario,” said Colin Andersen, the OPA’s Chief Executive Officer. “Interest in the program continues to be strong, and Ontario will benefit from the new clean, renewable energy that these FIT contracts will deliver.”
“Today’s announcement is another milestone in the success of Ontario’s Feed-in-Tariff program. With the addition of these new renewable energy projects, we are ensuring that more jobs and investments are coming to communities across Ontario as we build the clean energy economy and clean up the air for our children and grandchildren,” said Energy Minister Brad Duguid.
SkyPower Limited, which describes itself as “Canada’s leading solar energy company,” said that it and its subsidiaries had received 13 of the new solar power purchase contracts, totaling 148.3 MW.
A listing of the second-round FIT Program contracts is available on the FIT website, fit.powerauthority.on.ca.
Large-scale FIT applications submitted up to June 4, 2010 that were not offered contracts will be subject to the first Economic Connection Test (ECT) under the FIT program. The OPA will be coming forward with details regarding the first Economic Connection Test. Applications submitted after June 4, 2010 will be eligible for consideration in later Economic Connection Tests.
The OPA said it expects to begin awarding more contracts for capacity allocation exempt (CAE) projects (up to 500 kilowatts) in the coming weeks.