CanWEA Responds to Ontario FIT Review

Ontario FIT Wind Energy Pricing sets a feed-in tariff at 11.5 cents/kWh, guiding renewable investment, wind manufacturing, and approvals in Ontario, while CanWEA warns smaller projects may struggle to deliver clean power and jobs.

According to a recent news release, the Canadian Wind Energy Association CanWEA says they are pleased that the Ontario Government's review of the Feed-in-Tariff FIT program has made a commitment to procure all the energy required to meet its aggressive renewable energy targets by 2015 and to examine in 2013 the potential for additional renewable energy procurements.

Coupled with the Ontario Government's strong commitment to wind power to continue with the FIT program, this provides the stable policy framework investors need and ensures that Ontario will continue to be a leading destination for wind energy project and manufacturing investment in North America - bringing jobs and economic benefits to communities across Ontario.

Wind energy is a cost-competitive source of energy for Ontario. A new price of 11.5 cents per kWh for wind energy has been established as part of the FIT review process conducted by the province.

"We believe that this new price will prove extremely challenging for many projects and could prevent a number of them from proceeding. This is particularly true for smaller projects and new entrants to the industry, reducing the number of communities and the diversity of players able to contribute to and benefit from the government's ambitious objectives," says Robert Hornung, President of CanWEA.

"Our industry will work to meet this challenge, and we look forward to participating in future discussions on FIT pricing scheduled for the end of 2012 with a view to facilitating broad participation by organizations and communities seeking to support investments in clean power and green jobs in Ontario," he said.

The Ontario Government has made an important commitment to improve the efficiency of the Renewable Energy Approvals process for clean energy projects and CanWEA says that they are looking forward to understanding the full details and working with the Ontario Government to facilitate implementation.

"We are pleased with FIT program results and with the fact that the FIT review is now complete and are confident that the wind energy industry will build on its successes to date and deliver more green jobs and clean, affordable power for Ontario," said Hornung.

CanWEA is the voice of Canada's wind energy industry, actively promoting the responsible and sustainable growth of wind energy on behalf of its more than 420 members. The document Wind Vision 2025 - Powering Canada's Future is available at www.canwea.ca.

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