Guelph gets new solar panel plant
Canadian Solar Inc. announced the location for the new plant.
At full production, the $30 million plant will employ up to 500 workers, and be able each year to turn out panels capable of turning sunlight into 200 megawatts of power.
The new facility was prompted by the Ontario government’s push for more green energy from its “feed-in tariff” program, or FIT.
Generating facilities that qualify for the program are paid fixed, generally higher-than-market rates for their output, but must contain specified levels of Canadian content. Panels from Canadian SolarÂ’s new plant will qualify as Canadian content.
Although the company is headquartered in Kitchener, the Guelph plant will be its first manufacturing facility in Canada.
Canadian SolarÂ’s announcement follows one from Siemens Canada, which says it will establish a plant in southern Ontario to make blades for wind turbines, creating 200 jobs at full production. Siemens hasnÂ’t yet picked a location.
Related News
Investigation reveals power company 'gamed' $100M from Ontario's electricity system
TORONTO - Hydro customers shelled out about $100 million in "inappropriate" payments to a natural gas plant that exploited flaws in how Ontario manages its private electricity generators, according to the Ontario Energy Board.
The company operating the Goreway Power Station in Brampton "gamed" the system for at least three years, according to an investigation by the provincial energy regulator.
The investigation also delivers stinging criticism of the provincial government's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), slamming it for a lack of oversight. The probe by the Ontario Energy Board's market surveillance panel was completed nearly a year ago, but was only made public in November because…
