OntarioÂ’s green push pulling in investment

OAKVILLE, ONTARIO - Solar Semiconductor Inc., a maker of solar modules based in India, is expected to announce an investment of more than $60 million to establish a manufacturing plant in Oakville this year.

It will be the company's first manufacturing facility in North America, the latest sign that Ontario's push to attract foreign investment is gaining momentum.

The province's green strategy is also sparking foreign takeovers.

Calisolar Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., announced that it has acquired Vaughan-based solar silicon maker 6N Silicon Inc. in a private exchange of stock.

Calisolar said it will expand 6N's operations in Ontario and use the Canadian company's solar-grade silicon in its own solar cells.

Virginia-based Greenhouse Gas Services LLC, part-owned by GE Energy Financial Services, acquired Toronto's StormFisher Biogas, a developer of biogas systems that convert agricultural and food waste into clean electricity or natural gas.

"This is only the start," said Andrew Heintzman, president of Toronto-based venture capital firm Investeco Capital Corp.

"We will see more capital and entrepreneurs attracted to Ontario's alternative energy businesses and this is exactly what the (green-energy) policy was intended to do," he said.

Nava Akkineni, executive vice-president of Solar Semiconductor, said the Hyderabad, India-based company has plans for a factory that would eventually produce 150 megawatts of solar modules annually and create hundreds of local jobs.

He cited the province's feed-in-tariff program, which pays a fixed rate for solar electricity, as Solar Semiconductor's main reason for investing here.

The company learned of the program and Ontario's green energy legislation during Premier Dalton McGuinty's recent trade mission to India.

"The provincial government support for green energy is very encouraging," said Akkineni, adding that the company plans to fill the need for modules in Ontario and also export to some Great Lakes states.

Within 18 months it is expected to become a top-10 employer in Oakville, according to a town media advisory.

Akkineni estimated that every megawatt of solar modules produced and sold by Solar Semiconductor annually will create three to five manufacturing jobs. For a facility with 150 megawatts of annual output, that works out to between 450 and 750 jobs.

The acquisitions and investments follow a major announcement in January that a South Korean consortium, lead by industrial giant Samsung C&T, will invest $7 billion in the province to establish manufacturing and build solar and wind projects in Ontario.

Hagen Lee, manager of business development for Samsung Renewable Energy Inc. in Mississauga, told the Star the company has already started reaching out to local businesses for help in project development and manufacturing.

"You can expect announcements of the locations of certain key manufacturing facilities within this year," he said.

As the Star first reported, Denmark-based wind giant Vestas is also looking at the possibility of laying manufacturing roots in Ontario to serve an emerging North American market for offshore wind turbines.