The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), which manages Ontario’s grid, has released the list of 16 contracts that have been offered under the province’s Large Renewable Procurement (LRP), a competitive process for procuring large renewable energy projects generally greater than 500 kW.
The 16 contracts represent 454.885 MW of renewable energy capacity and include the following:
– seven solar contracts totaling 139.885 MW, with a weighted average price of C$0.1567/kWh;
– five wind contracts totaling 299.5 MW, with a weighted average price of C$0.0859/kWh; and
– four hydroelectric contracts totaling 15.5 MW, with a weighted average price of C$0.1759/kWh.
Of these, more than 80%, or 13 projects totaling 336.8 MW, include participation from one or more Aboriginal communities, including five with more than 50 Aboriginal participation. Additionally, IESO says more than 75% of the successful proposals had received support from local municipalities, and more than 60% had support from abutting landowners.
BluEarth Renewables Inc. and SunEdison Canadian Construction LP won the largest solar contracts of 54 MW and 44 MW, respectively. More participating solar developers include EDF EN Canada Development Inc. and Invenergy, among others.
“This LRP process introduced strong competition among developers of large renewable projects, helping to drive down price and secure clean, reliable generation for the province,” says Bruce Campbell, president and CEO of IESO.
Once the contracts are executed, project proponents will need to meet a number of contractual requirements, as well as environmental and permitting approvals, before they can build their projects.
The full list of contract offers, including project locations, can be viewed here.
