As part of its 2013 annual report, the OPA has released an overview documenting the full range of its current generation procurement business. Entitled, “Procuring Generation for a Cleaner, More Reliable System,” the summary reads as follows.
“The OPA continued to procure electricity supply to help meet Ontario’s needs for a clean and reliable electricity system. By the end of 2013, the OPA was managing contracts for two-thirds of the province’s total electricity system. …
The FIT Program for renewable energy continued to account for a significant amount of the wind, solar and bioenergy under contract to the OPA. The OPA procured 143 megawatts of FIT projects and 29 megawatts of microFIT projects in 2013. Annual procurement targets are set by the government for these programs.
In June, the Minister of Energy directed the OPA to create a new competitive procurement process for large renewable projects (over 500 kilowatts) rather than include them in the FIT Program. The OPA engaged with stakeholders before submitting interim recommendations to the Minister at the end of August for this process. Further stakeholder engagement activities held in early 2014 will inform the final process.
Changes were also made to pricing for both the FIT and microFIT programs in late August to align with the current costs of designing and building renewable energy projects. We launched a pilot project for unbuilt rooftop solar projects (URSP) and a standard offer program for new municipal hydroelectric projects (HESOP Municipal Stream) in October.
The OPA continued to collaborate in sector development work with the IESO and others to integrate these renewable resources into our electricity system. The renewable integration initiative (SE-91) was implemented in September. This is to make transmission-connected renewable generators fully dispatchable, saving Ontario’s electricity ratepayers up to $200 million per year from system efficiencies, according to the IESO. The OPA also negotiated contract savings of up to $65 million in total over the next five years – the period of heaviest surplus baseload generation, with the possibility of more savings over the life of the contracts.
We continued to enter into new contracts with existing hydroelectric facilities under our Hydroelectric Contract Initiative (HCI) according to the government’s 2009 directive. We are also developing the HESOP Expansion Stream to provide expansion opportunities for hydroelectric facilities currently contracted with the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation, or with the OPA under the HCI.
The OPA continued to engage with the Korean Consortium on its Phase 3 renewable energy projects in accordance with the Green Energy Investment Agreement.
Following direction from the Minister in June, the OPA has entered into negotiations with OPG and its First Nation partner, the Taykwa Tagamou Nation, regarding a contract for a proposed 25-megawatt New Post Creek hydroelectric generating station. Negotiations are expected to continue throughout 2014.
We continued to manage procurements for other electricity projects, such as natural gas-fired generation. And we worked to procure energy supply from other sources, including energy-from-waste projects and coal-fired facilities converted to biomass. In November, the government announced its plans for the conversion of the Thunder Bay Generating Station to advanced biomass to ensure reliable electricity service for homeowners, businesses and industry in the region.
In 2013, the OPA continued its negotiations with non-utility generators and proceeded with completing the initial launch phase of our Clean Energy Standard Offer Program.
The Industrial Electricity Incentive Program is allowing new and expanding industrial companies to benefit from the province’s strong energy supply. Seven contract offers were made in December and all are expected to be executed in early 2014. These will provide discounted electricity to industrial customers bringing new load to the province. Additional opportunities for industry to participate in the program may occur in 2014.
A new 10-year contract for the Lennox Generating Station began in 2013. Negotiated by the OPA and OPG in December 2012, the agreement builds on the terms of Lennox’s former contracts. The facility, which generates oil/gas-fuelled electricity, will provide reliability during peak demand times and backup when other sources are not available.
The OPA commenced negotiations with Bruce Power with a view to extending the life of the Bruce B units and ultimately planning for their refurbishment, in accordance with the Long-Term Energy Plan.”
For more information, readers may wish to access the OPA 2013 annual report on the OPA website.