Brad Duguid, Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, recently visited Norfolk County to survey a large solar project under construction in the area. He was joined by his Energy Parliamentary Secretary and Norfolk’s Mayor, Dennis Travale. The park is one of two solar installations currently under development by SunEdison and SkyPower Ltd.. When finished, the pair should have a combined total solar energy capacity of 18 MW.
Solar Project Makes Use of Local Training, Materials
The Norfolk solar farm, called SunE Sky Ryerse, employs 150 people during the current construction phase, more than 90% of whom are from the region. This provincial focus on labour is likely to lead to higher demand for solar training, engineering classes, and related educational opportunities. Materials, too, will largely come from Ontario.
SunE Sky participates in the Green Energy Act’s feed-in-tariff (FIT) program, allowing it to receive a guaranteed, 20-year, above-market rate for energy created and fed into the electricity grid. In return, it must source a certain percentage of materials and labour from within the province. For solar projects, the requirement is 50%, going up to 60% next April. The two solar farms will just squeeze under the program’s limit of 10MW per lot of land.
SunEdison and SkyPower have worked together before, having previously constructed First Light I in Stone Mills in 2009, for which they won CanSIA’s award for “Solar PV Project of the Year for Ground Mount.” The First Light I project was a 9.1 MW solar installation. According to SkyPower CEO, Kerry Adler, more such projects are on the way.
Joint Venture Brings Experience to Ontario Solar Market
SunEdison has abundant experience in the financing, installation, and operation of solar energy projects. It is a subsidiary of MEMC, manufacturer and distributer of products related to semiconductors and solar power. The company is the largest solar energy services provider in North America. SkyPower is also one of the biggest players in Canada’s solar market. Its skills and training reach into all stages of a solar project’s life-cycle. SkyPower’s projects total over 1 GW of clean power across the continent. Together, the two companies stand to make a significant impact in the green energy sector.
