The Mother Earth Renewable Energy (MERE) windfarm, owned and run by M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island, on the M’Chigeeng First Nation Band lands, is Ontario’s first wind farm entirely owned by a First Nation.
The community held its grand opening ceremony June 15, with the attendance of notables like Regional Chief Angus Toulouse (Chiefs of Ontario), Energy Minister Chris Bentley, Kristopher Stevens (Ontario Sustainable Energy Association) and keynote speaker Dr. David Suzuki.
The project, using two 2MW Enercon turbines, is expected to generate $300,000 a year net for the first 14 years while loans are being repaid and $1.2 million a year for the remaining 6 years.
While the turbines actually started producing energy in June, the process of obtaining the Commercial Operation Date from the Ontario Power Authority, with whom the contract was signed under its FIT program, continued until September 7, 2012. Hydro One and the OPA recently confirmed that payments will follow shortly at the contract rate of 15 cents/kWh (includes the Aboriginal Adder). This delay is not unusual, explains Graham Findlay at 3G Energy Corp. 3G is the renewable energy consultancy that coordinated the construction and has advised M’Chigeeng First Nation on the project since 2006. According to Mr. Findlay, it’s a matter of finalizing the paperwork, submitting engineering reports and completion certifications post-completion. And then there was the OPA workload, which surged to over 200 similar cases at the time the COD request was filed in the summer. Not surprisingly turnaround has been affected by the volume of work.
M’Chigeeng First Nation isn’t resting on its laurels. Next in line is the MERE Phase II project, an 8MW solar farm wrapped around the wind turbines. Planning for the solar field began at the same time as the wind turbines, some ten years ago, with a decision to see success achieved with the wind project first. It’s still the same amount of work, said M’Chigeeng’s Economic Development Manager Grant Taibossigai, but now they have a reputation as a successful partner and have earned respect from the development community. As a result, planning timelines have been shortened substantially. “We know what we’re doing and they (OPA) know about our goals,” he said.
However, Graham Findlay suggests that, aside from the initial feasibility study, further progress on the project – engineering studies, early moves on financing, etc. – will have to wait for the next version of the FIT program. The OPA notes that the current version of the program, FIT 2.0, has no room for renewable projects larger than 500 kW, and Mr. Findlay feels that, with this government being in a minority situation in the House, political factors may affect the timing of the next FIT initiative. The budget in spring 2013 will be the next speed bump for the energy industry, he said.
— With a report from the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association