Representatives of the Ontario Technology Corridor (OTC) travelled to Munich, Germany in June to attend the Intersolar Europeconference. The purpose of the visit was to promote the province as a business-friendly environment for renewable energy investments.
The OTC is a partnership between several regional, municipal, and provincial bodies, designed to promote Ontario’s financial interests both domestically and abroad. It is now focused on enticing international companies to take part in the province’s many opportunities for renewable energy projects. The Intersolar Europe conference is the largest exhibition in the world for the solar industry, according to its Web site. It is the premiere place for companies and organizations to showcase their solar technologies and ideas and keep up on the latest industry news.
OTC representatives at the conference spoke to attendees about the benefits of doing green business in Ontario. In particular, they extolled the virtues of the Ontario Power Authority’s (OPA) feed-in-tariff (FIT) program - an initiative designed to reward and encourage the production of solar, wind, biofuel, and hydro power. The FIT is an offshoot of Ontario’s new Green Energy Act.
Program Offers Highest Prices for Solar Energy
The FIT program offers producers of renewable energy significantly higher prices than the current going rate for electricity. Solar projects earn as much as 80.2 cents per kilowatt hour. This is good news not only for producers of clean energy, but also for manufacturers and distributers of parts, since the program’s direct-sourcing requirements (DSRs) encourage growth in these industries.
For example, Samsung has a project in Ontario that, when complete, will be the largest solar and wind energy cluster in the world. Under the DSRs, 25-50% of the project’s labour and materials must be sourced from within the province, and the numbers go up starting next year. According to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, the Samsung project alone will create around 16,000 jobs.
Wide Range of Incentives for Clean Energy in Ontario
In addition to FIT incentives, clean energy companies that invest in the province have access to extensive manufacturing infrastructure, tax breaks, and potential access to over a billion dollars set aside by Sustainable Development Technology Canada. There are now more than 2,800 clean energy-related companies in Ontario. With the Samsung project scheduled for completion in 2013, global solar, wind, and other green energy companies would be wise to take note of the benefits of doing business in the province.
