The Ontario Power Authority has just announced the first group of contracts to buy renewable energy electricity at premium Feed in Tariff (FIT) prices, under the Green Energy Act. These contracts have been awarded for projects that do not require upgrades to the electrical transmission and distribution grid, and therefore can be built quickly without significant public investment.510 projects were approved, from 10 kilowatts to 500 kilowatts, with a total generating capacity of 112 megawatts.
About 95 percent of the projects are for solar generation, notably 136 for rooftops on Loblaw grocery stores, and dozens of schools. Rooftop solar projects will not require renewable energy approvals from the Ministry of the Environment. Loblaws will initially build four solar roofs, and gradually roll out the others in phases. Other major retailers are also interested. The remaining projects are biogas (20), water (4), onshore wind (3) and biomass (1).
The list of lucky winners is available here.
The OPA press release is available here.
Exciting times for renewable energy!