Ontario (Canada) is home to the headquarters of 110 clean technology companies and some of North America’s most advanced green energy policies, targeted incentives and a generous feed-in tariff program to expanding Asian companies.
“For the Asian solar industry, Ontario’s most compelling attraction is the Ontario Power Authority’s feed-in tariff, or FIT Program,” said Michael Darch, Executive Director, Global Investment of OCRI, Ottawa (Canada)’s leading economic development organization and an Ontario Technology Corridor partner.
Modeled after successful programs in Germany and France, Ontario’s feed-in tariff features North America’s first comprehensive, guaranteed pricing structure for renewable electricity production.
“[It] offers stable prices under long-term contracts for solar photovoltaic, on-shore and off-shore wind, biomass, biogas, landfill gas, and waterpower energy,” Darch said.
A total of 694 feed-in tariff contracts in Ontario have already created 20,000 direct and indirect green energy jobs and attracted about $9 billion (€6.4 billion) in private sector investment from around the world.
Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) projects that by 2015, clean technology companies in the Canadian province working to reduce or eliminate environmental impacts will generate revenues in excess of $1 billion (€ 713.7 million).
In addition there are over 2,800 environmental industry companies in Ontario, generating approximately $7 billion (€ 4.9 billion) in revenue and employing 65,000 people.
Two of those companies, Plasco Energy Group and Clearford Industries Inc., are already active in China.
In June, Plasco Energy Group and China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group established a joint venture, CECEP-Plasco China Corp., to bring the Canadian firm’s energy-from-waste technology, the Plasco Conversion System, to China.
In July, Clearford signed its first contract in China to design its patented SBS™ system for development of wastewater collection and treatment in the Hubei Province. Since then, Clearford has also attracted private equity investment from a leading Chinese investment bank.
“We are actively welcoming Asian companies to participate in our province’s green energy partnerships,” Darch said. “There is fertile ground for significant cooperation.”
Ontario became the North American leader in the adoption of green energy policies with the passage of its Green Energy Act in May 2009.
Other targeted programs available to the alternative energy and clean technology sector include: Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund, Ontario Innovation Demonstration Fund, Ontario Power Authority Technology Development Fund, SD Tech Fund, and SDTC’s NextGen Biofuels Fund.
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