ONTARIO NEWS

On March 10 the IESO announced that it had selected 16 proposals to receive offers of power purchase agreements under its Large Renewable Procurement (LRP) program. The 16 projects were chosen out of a total of 103 proposals received in response to the LRP I RFP.

          The 16 contracts offered represent 454.885 megawatts of renewable energy capacity. The results include:

• 5 wind contracts totalling 299.5 MW, with a weighted average price of $85.94/MWh and an approximate weighted price range of $64.50 to $105.50/MWh;

• 7 solar contracts totalling 139.885 MW, with a weighted average price of $156.67/MWh and an approximate weighted price range of $141.50 to $178.50/MWh and

• 4 hydroelectric contracts totalling 15.5 MW, with a weighted average price of $175.92/MWh and an approximate weighted price range of $173.50 to $177.00/MWh.

          Of these, 13 projects (336.8 MW) include participation from one or more Aboriginal communities, including five with more than 50 percent Aboriginal participation. Additionally, more than 75 percent of the successful proposals had received support from local municipalities, and more than 60 percent had support from abutting landowners.

          The full list of contract offers, including project location, fuel type, contract capacity and contact information, is summarized below and available on the IESO website in the form of the LRP I RFP Selected Proponents List.

          The IESO says the development and design of the program’s requirements, including those for community and municipal engagement, were informed by broad engagement with municipalities, Aboriginal communities, industry associations, the general public and other stakeholders. The LRP program requirements were “designed to strike a balance between early community engagement and achieving value for ratepayers.” Local support – from the municipality, local First Nation community and/or from landowners adjacent to the project – was a factor in project evaluation.

          One of the projects, Nanticoke Solar, a partnership between Ontario Power Generation, SunEdison, and Six Nations Development Corporation, is OPG's fourth First Nation's partnership.

          "The Nanticoke project is a great opportunity for Ontario to take a former coal plant site and transform it into a clean and reliable solar power plant," said Michelle Chislett, SunEdison's vice president and country manager for Canada. "This project is a great example of how countries are retiring coal plants and replacing them with clean, renewable power plants."

          "We are delighted that Nanticoke Solar was selected," says Matt Jamieson, Six Nation's Development Corporation President and CEO. "The project aligns with our community values of sustainability and environmental prosperity. Investing in clean energy benefits the people of Six Nations economically without compromising our children's future. We look forward to working with our partners to make this project a success."

The Procurement Targets for the LRP I were 300 MW of wind, 140 MW of solar, 75 MW of waterpower, and 50 MW of bioenergy.