No wind power in NF or AH

Jeff Green | Mar 16, 2016

Opponents are breathing a sigh of relief, and the Township of Addington Highlands is no longer in line for a $10 million infusion of money over 20 years.

All three wind proposals in Addington Highlands and North Frontenac failed to secure contracts under the Large Renewable Procurement (LRP) for Renewable Energy Projects, the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) announced this morning. As well, all of the solar proposals in South Frontenac also failed.

Two wind projects in Eastern Ontario did succeed, however, including a 32 MW project in the Municipality of The Nation near Ottawa, and a 100 MW project in North Stormont. A large solar farm in Stone Mills, 54 MW, also made the cut.

North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins was quick to respond to the news that the Northpoint 1 and Northpoint 2 projects, both of which are at least partially located in North Frontenac, were unsuccessful.

“So happy” Higgins tweeted out as soon as he heard, but then said that the township needs to be diligent in opposing turbines in the future, as a second, and possible third round of renewable energy procurements roll out.

Over in Addington Highlands, where the township supported two wind turbine proposals, Reeve Henry Hogg was on vacation last week when the winning bids were announced. When contacted this week after his return, he said that there would be implications to the township's budget, which is being worked on this month.

“If the contracts were coming this way, we would have considered borrowing to help cover the increase in OPP costs, as we would have been expecting an infusion of cash in about three years’ time. We won't be able to do that now,” he said.

As a sweetener, the two companies that were seeking municipal support in Addington Highlands, RES-Canada and NextEra, offered $500,000 per year for the 20-year life of the contracts once turbines were installed.

“I don't know if the companies will come back or when the next round will take place, but I am not looking forward to it, although my position has not changed,” said Hogg, referring to the controversy last summer that surrounded the decision his council made to support the projects. Police were called in to two council meetings, but although there was some booing and catcalling, there was nothing resembling a violent encounter at either meeting.

Of the two companies that submitted proposals locally, NextEra was shut out across the province in both wind and solar projects even though they submitted nine bids (six solar and three wind). RES-Canada did win two contracts out of 11 bids. Both of them are wind projects, one in Chatham-Kent, and one in the vicinity of Hawkesbury.

Neither company has commented since the announcement was made last week.

Although the IESO said that 75% of the projects that were selected are located in jurisdictions that were “willing hosts” like Addington Highlands, almost all the wind projects that were chosen, including both in Eastern Ontario, are in townships that are “unwilling hosts”.

Since wind projects tend to spark more controversy than solar projects, it is perhaps not surprising that of 25% of projects that went to municipalities who opposed them, wind projects were over-represented as compared to solar.

The results also suggest that the diverging positions taken by North Frontenac and Addington Highlands were not a key factor in the final result, which seems to have been driven primarily by price.

The average price per kilowatt hour among the chosen wind projects was 8.95 cents, as compared to 15.6 cents for solar and 17.5 cents for water-powered projects.

The 8.95 cent price is lower than the average price paid by the IESO currently, which is just over 9.2 cents, meaning with this latest set of contracts, wind is headed towards the top of the heap among renewable sources as far as price is concerned.

All of this suggests that as the controversy over wind power escalates in Ontario, its economic viability is on the rise as well.

There were also three large-scale solar projects proposed for South Frontenac. Two were supported by the township and one was opposed. None of them were successful.