Wind and solar projects announced

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

The Liberal provincial government has announced 25 new, large-scale feed-in tariff (FIT) wind and solar projects that promise to create enough electricity to power 280,000 homes and attract about $3 billion in new private sector investment to the province.

The Liberals are also trumpeting in a news release that “Ontario’s clean energy economy continues to grow, creating 5,000 new jobs.”

The 25 projects will not face capacity problems that have blocked many who want to get into the FIT and smaller microFIT programs. The new wind and solar producers will be brought on line through the Bruce to Milton reinforcement transmission project, the largest in Ontario in 20 years. They are located in Tiverton, Woodstock, Strathroy, Seaforth, Paisley and Zurich. The FIT contract offers include 14 wind projects in the Bruce area that will produce 750 megawatts of power. There are five more wind projects west of London totaling 268.4 megawatts and six solar projects totaling 27.5 megawatts.

The announcement takes place against a backdrop of a fall provincial election and a threat by the Conservatives to axe the FIT program if they are elected. There are also a number of wind project critics who say they are bad for the health of those living in the shadow of the giant turbines. BF