Toronto: Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator announced September 20 that it will offer 390 contracts representing about 150 megawatts of small-scale renewable generation under the FIT program. These are the last contracts to be awarded under the province’s Feed-in Tariff program.
The IESO says results of the procurement show strong participation, more than 80 percent, from Indigenous, community, municipal and public sector entities. These contracts conclude the most recent procurement under the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Program, known as FIT 5.
Contracts will be offered for 382 solar photovoltaic projects, as well as for seven on-farm biogas projects and one municipal landfill gas project. Once completed, these projects could provide enough renewable energy to power approximately 19,000 homes. The complete list of FIT 5 contract offers is available here.
"These FIT 5 contract offers represent a broad cross-section of Ontarians, including Indigenous communities, community groups, municipalities, farmers and small businesses," says JoAnne Butler, the IESO's Vice-President, Market and Resource Development. "As we reach the completion of the FIT procurement model, we look forward to working with generators to explore the role of innovative distributed energy resources and market-based approaches to meet Ontario's future energy needs."
Over 35 percent of the contracts that will be offered have Indigenous project participation, and about half of the projects have Indigenous site hosts. Below is a summary of Indigenous, community and municipal or public sector participation:
• 144 projects (57.83 MW) with Indigenous participation
• 79 projects (33.20 MW) with community participation
• 94 projects (35.64 MW) with municipal or public sector participation
Both FIT 5 and the previous FIT procurement round included a bid-down price option, where applicants could earn priority points for offering a price lower than the standard price schedule. Under FIT 5, more than 86 percent of successful applicants applied for a price reduction.