These rules come four months after the Ministry of Energy's FIT Review Report and one month after the microFIT (projects under 10 kW) rules were released. The rules for "Large FIT" projects (500 kW – 10 MW) have still not been finalized.
The new rules will be analysed in full during the SSX ONTARIO: Solar Summit & eXpo, to be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on 6 and 7 September, which will offer the international PV industry its first opportunity to connect and establish business relationships now that Ontario’s FIT program is back on track. The conference will focus on both advancing FIT 1.0 solar projects and preparing projects for the FIT 2.0 application window.
Ontario (Canada) is now the second largest PV market in North America. According to Photon Magazine, Ontario added 310 MW of capacity in 2011. The province’s Ministry of Energy recently reported approximately 500 megawatts of solar PV capacity now online, with another 1,600 MW currently under contract.
However, obtaining a FIT contract just got more complicated. Expecting another rush of applications, the OPA’s new FIT 2.0 rules prioritize which projects will be awarded the contracts that guarantee between 38.8 to 54.8 cents (CDN) per kWh, for twenty years.
SSX Ontario features special sessions and workshops that focus on enabling solar projects to gain “priority points.”
“The new program is about so much more than procuring clean energy,” says Jacob Travis, President of Solar Network International, the sponsor of SSX ONTARIO. “Applications are now going to be prioritized according to the financial benefit they bring to Ontario’s communities and public institutions.”
Points are awarded for projects that include community and Aboriginal participation. Publicly funded institutions - schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, and long-term care homes that host projects or have a sizable equity stake are privileged. Municipal support and project readiness are other keys to earning priority points.
Summarizing the situation, Travis concludes: “Ontario’s leading efforts in distributed generation now include policies enacted to also help distribute the financial benefits from these projects.”
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