Ontario Wind Market set for a Breather in 2012 as Red Tape Delays Construction of Wind Projects
Toronto, Ontario (September 30, 2011): The Ontario wind market will decline 41% from record highs in 2011 to 304 MW in 2012. The decline is largely caused by slower than expected permitting processes according to a market analysis by ClearSky Advisors. However, driven by the FIT program, the pipeline of wind projects is strong and may bounce back to new heights in 2013, depending on the outcome of the October 6 provincial election. The expected market... [Read More...]
What Does Ontario’s Provincial Election Mean for the Province’s Wind and Solar PV Industries?
Ask anyone involved in Ontario’s wind and solar PV markets about what keeps them up at night and the answer invariably includes political uncertainty. Indeed, a recent survey conducted by ClearSky Advisors of Ontario developers and installers bore this out: 98% of respondents indicated that political uncertainty was their biggest concern for future success of the industry in Ontario. This concern is the result of two simple truths: Policy is currently... [Read More...]
The Economic Impacts of Wind Energy in Ontario 2011-2018
Conducted by ClearSky Advisors, and commissioned by the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) , “The Economic Impacts of Wind Energy in Ontario” is the most comprehensive study ever undertaken on the economic impacts of the wind energy industry in the province. According to the study, Wind energy developments in Ontario will create more than 80,000 person years of employment and attract more than $16 billion in private sector investments... [Read More...]
Why Ontario’s Clean Energy Benefit Makes Sense – Sort Of
We hesitate to admit it (because we dislike anything that distorts the true cost of energy to ratepayers), but in a roundabout way, the Clean Energy Benefit (CEB) announced by Ontario’s Government on November 17 makes economic sense. Although the CEB appears to simply be a way of keeping electricity bills from climbing too fast (which surely is the political purpose of the CEB ) – it actually reflects the reality of how renewable energy creates... [Read More...]
Project Development in a Grid-Locked World
by Robert Wakulat, Contributor In an open conference call on March 24, 2010, Hydro One warned of the capacity issues it is currently facing in connecting distributed energy generation projects to the grid. Hydro One is the largest transmission and distribution company in Ontario. It operates over 96% of the province’s high-voltage transmission capacity by revenue and is among Ontario’s largest low-voltage “Local Distribution Companies” (referred... [Read More...]
Ontario FIT Program off to Cautious Start
Starting October 1, 2009, citizens and businesses in Ontario, Canada were able to submit applications to build grid-connected renewable energy projects under the province’s Green Energy and Green Economy Act, which received royal ascent in Ontario’s Parliament on May 14th this year. Motivated by the new feed-in tariffs launched by the Ontario Power Authority on September 24th, many homeowners, businesses and farmers are expected to start... [Read More...]
Ontario Launches Feed-In Tariffs
On March 12, Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Rt Hon George Smitherman, announced the proposed feed-in tariffs for producers of renewable energy under Ontario’s new Green Energy Act. The proposed tariffs were developed by the Ontario Power Authority on Minister Smitherman’s request. [Read More...] Read More →