Ontario awards power contracts for 390 small-scale renewable projects
by Cleantech Canada Staff
The contracts will connect 380 solar installations to the grid, as well as a handful of biogas and landfill gas projects
The grid operator will pay an average of 19.7 cents per kilowatt hour for non-rooftop solar under the new contracts
TORONTO—Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) has awarded contracts for several hundred new small-scale clean power projects as it closes the fifth and final wave of procurement under its Feed-in Tariff program, better known as FIT.
The solar and waste gas projects will add approximately 150 megawatts of capacity to Ontario’s grid.
The 382 solar installations, seven on-farm biogas sites and one landfill gas project will be capable of powering the equivalent of about 19,000 homes. The sites are located across the province—from Welland in the Niagara region to Dorion, outside Thunder Bay, Ont.
The IESO said it received a total of 1,120 applications during the FIT 5 procurement process before settling on the 390 projects.
Prices for individual projects were not released, but the grid operator said it it will pay an average of 17.9 cents per kilowatt hour for non-rooftop solar and 19.7 cents/kWh for rootop solar projects between 100kW and 500kW in capacity—the two types of projects that make up the lion’s share of new contracts.
The FIT contract awards come as the province’s Liberal government faces significant backlash over the rising cost of electricity. The government released a plan earlier this year that will offer short-term relief on hydro bills, but cost ratepayers significantly more money over the long-term.
A complete list of the new projects awarded power contracts is available here.
