July 4,2013-Ontario's clean energy economy continues to grow as the Ontario Power Authority(OPA)offers 951 new Small Feed-in Tariff(FIT)renewable energy contracts.These contracts represent 146.5MW of power,enough to power more than 21,000 homes.
More than 98%of the successful applications received municipal council support resolutions.Most of these contract offers are for solar photovoltaic(PV)projects,including 934 solar PV projects,16 bioenergy projects and one waterpower project.In total,project developers are expected to invest over$750 million in the Ontario economy,and the projects are expected to result in 2,200 jobs for Ontarians.
The projects announced include 46MW or 219 projects with Aboriginal participation and 27.8MW or 136 projects with community participation.
The OPA was authorized to offer up to 200MW of contracts to these applicants.The remaining 53.5MW of capacity will be added to the procurement target for this fall's Small FIT application period.
The OPA had contracts for 1,706 FIT projects,representing 4,541MW.Of these,616 projects had been completed and were delivering clean electricity to Ontario's grid,with the rest in development.
Ontario's FIT Program,enabled by the Green Energy and Green Economy Act,2009,is North America's first comprehensive guaranteed pricing structure for renewable electricity production.It includes standardized program rules,prices and contracts for those interested in developing a qualifying renewable energy project.Prices are designed to cover project costs and allow for a reasonable return on investment over the contract term.Qualifying renewable energy technologies include biogas,renewable biomass,landfill gas,solar photovoltaic,waterpower and wind power.
"This is an important step as we continue to grow our clean energy economy.Ontario's commitment to renewable energy is cleaning up our air and creating good,local jobs across the province,"said Bob Chiarelli,minister of energy.Last modified on Thursday,04 July 2013 11:08
