Canada - CanWEA applauds annoucement of Ontario's first standard offer program contracts

The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) applauds today’s announcement by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) that it has signed Standard Offer Contracts with 14 wind energy projects to bring an additional 130 MW of wind energy into operation in Ontario. Ontario’s Standard Offer Program is designed to bring smaller renewable energy projects (10 MW or less) on line.

“Ontario’s Standard Offer Program is an important and innovative initiative that can make an important contribution to Ontario’s renewable power objectives and we are very pleased that the first contracts have now been awarded under this program”, says Robert Hornung, CanWEA President. “These contracts are further evidence of the important role wind energy is playing in meeting Ontario’s electricity needs while cleaning the air and reducing greenhouse gas emissions”.

Today’s announcement demonstrates that Standard Offer Contracts are an effective mechanism for bringing new wind energy capacity into service in Ontario. At this time, however, projects in a significant portion of southwestern Ontario are ineligible to participate in the program as a result of concerns about the availability of transmission resources in the region. CanWEA is an active participant in an OPA working group now seeking solutions to allow projects in this region to participate in the program.

“We believe that workable solutions are available to ensure that all parts of Ontario can participate in the Standard Offer Program and we hope to see new announcements in this regard in April 2007”, says Robert Hornung. “The implementation of such solutions would dramatically increase the number of wind energy projects eligible to participate in the Standard Offer Program and would build on the foundation laid today with the announcement of Ontario’s first Standard Offer Contracts.”

Ontario is Canada’s wind energy leader in terms of installed capacity. With the rapid growth of wind energy across Canada, however, CanWEA believes that maintaining this position in the future will require both the implementation of the Standard Offer Program across Ontario as well as the announcement of new procurement processes for large-scale wind energy projects (greater than 10 MW).

Wind energy produces no air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to its environmental benefits, wind energy delivers substantial economic benefits to rural communities through investment and job creation, lease income for landowners, and a new tax base for municipal governments.

The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) represents more than 300 companies involved in Canada’s wind energy industry, including wind turbine and component manufacturers, wind energy project developers, and service providers to the wind energy industry.

For more information: Lisa Brazeau (613) 863-0667 www.canwea.ca