Novia Scotia to change the province's COMFIT program
"We've received a lot of feedback on the COMFIT program and we are moving on changes as a result," said Energy Minister Andrew Younger. "The program has now evolved to a point where approvals need to be limited while we assess what is technically feasible and cost effective to integrate into the province's power grid. We also want to maintain COMFIT's community focus."
As of January, 89 COMFIT projects had been approved, with a total capacity of 200 megawatts. When launched in 2011, the program's target was 100 megawatts. It is not expected that all approved projects will go into production.
No further applications for large biomass and wind projects of more than 500 kilowatts will be accepted. Applications already submitted must be finalized before March 21.
COMFIT is designed for locally based renewable electricity projects. They must be community-owned and connected at the distribution grid.
The program provides an established price for renewable-resource projects such as wind, biomass, in-stream tidal and run-of-the-river hydroelectric developments. Eligible groups include municipalities, First Nations, co-operatives, universities, community economic development funds and not-for-profit groups.
The department has also clarified the program's definition of demonstrated community support for projects.
The next phase will focus on approving smaller projects, supporting projects being built and developing a renewable-to-retail program.
Based on public feedback, the number of approvals per organization or private partnership will be limited. This will move the focus back to the original goal of community-based projects.
The review focused on areas such as processing applications, eligibility, community support and overall impact.
Related News
Opp Leader calls for electricity market overhaul to favor consumers over generators
MELBOURNE - Australia's Labor leader Bill Shorten has called for significant changes to the rules governing the national electricity market, saying they are biased in favour of big energy generators to the detriment of households.
He said the national electricity market (NEM) rules are designed to help the big companies recoup the money they spent on purchasing government assets, rather than encourage households to generate their own power, and they need to change faster to adapt to consumer needs.
His comments hint at a possible overhaul of the NEM’s governance structure under a future Labor government, because the current rule-making process is…
