Samsung’s turbine deal with Ontario in jeopardy

The Ontario government’s multi-billion-dollar wind turbine deal with South Korean industrial giant Samsung Group is in jeopardy after a power play in Premier Dalton McGuinty’s cabinet, the Toronto Star has learned.

Sources say rival ministers opposed to Deputy Premier George Smitherman’s pet scheme, which they fear will mean “billions” of dollars in subsidies to Samsung, have convinced McGuinty to stall the landmark deal first reported in the Star on Sept. 27.
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Canada’s Largest Solar Farm Opens in Ontario

Stone Mills Project Helps Province Become North American Solar Leader
TORONTO–(Business Wire)–
Canada’s largest solar farm is now producing power in the township of Stone
Mills, near Napanee – paving the way for Ontario to become a solar power leader
in North America.

This new green energy supply will help support Ontario’s elimination of dirty,
coal-fired generation, which is Canada’s single largest climate change
initiative. With two more large solar projects expected to come on line by the
end of 2009, Ontario will join the elite ranks of North America’s leaders in
installed solar capacity.

First Light Solar Park – currently the largest-scale commercial solar farm
operation in Canada – is a joint venture between SkyPower Corp. and SunEdison
Canada. With more than 126,000 solar panels spanning across 90 acres, this farm
is expected to generate more than 10 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable
electricity in its first year — enough to power 10,000 households.

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‘Buy Ontario’ requirement added to Ontario green-energy plan

Erie Shores Wind Farm

The tricky business of going green in Ontario got more complex on Thursday as the McGuinty government introduced a mandatory ‘Buy Ontario’ component for new solar and wind projects.

The changes were part of a bundle of key new policies designed to spark home-grown green manufacturing, as well as the wide deployment of its products — everything from small, rooftop solar panels to industrial-sized wind farms.

But in trying to strike a balance between competing interests, the Liberals appear to have rattled all sides in the debate.
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Ontario gives green energy price guarantee

Ontario expects to cover the total cost and provide “a reasonable rate of return” for investments in green energy projects through decades-long contracts with fixed electricity prices.

The government said it is the first program of its kind in North America.

Solar, wind, water, biomass, biogas and landfill gas producers, including individual homeowners, will all be eligible to sell their power to the provincial grid under the program, one of the four final components of the Ontario Green Energy Act announced by Premier Dalton McGuinty Thursday.
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Wind farm opponents accuse Ontario Energy Minister Smitherman of ducking protesters

Opponents of new wind farms in Ontario are accusing Energy Minister George Smitherman of trying to duck protesters.

A group called Wind Concerns Ontario says Smitherman’s office hasn’t told anyone the energy minister will attend Thursday’s grand opening of the Wolfe Island wind project near Kingston.

The anti-windmill activists say Smitherman is “deathly afraid” he’ll face protests at Wolfe Island after he ran into about 50 protesters at a wind farm near Kincardine in April.

The government still had not put out an announcement late Wednesday afternoon indicating that Smitherman and Environment Minister John Gerretson would be at the Wolfe Island event.
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Ontario’s big windy gamble. The province is betting on wind power, and critics are lining up.

Ontario is already North America’s friendliest jurisdiction for wind and other renewable energy projects, thanks to its recently proclaimed Green Energy Act, meant to speed along approval, and the establishment of European-style 20-year fixed-price energy contracts. (Power companies are now required to integrate all new green energy projects into their grids and pay producers 13.5 cents per kilowatt hour for onshore wind farms, 19 cents/kWh for offshore wind, and up to 80.2 cents/kWh for solar power, versus about six cents/kWh for both hydro and nuclear energy.) The province, which is committed to shutting down its coal-fired plants by 2014, will have 1,200 megawatts of wind power in operation by the end of this year, and there are 103 more “shovel ready” wind developments, totalling 3,263 MW, in the pipeline. The proliferation of giant turbines—80-m-tall towers with 40- to 45-m blades—is already nearing the 5,000 MW supply ceiling the Ontario Power Authority has said it can easily integrate into its aging grid. But soon, there will be no more limits. Smitherman is promising a series of major power infrastructure announcements in coming weeks that will not only make wind a much bigger part of Ontario’s energy mix, but open up vast new areas of the province to commercial wind development.
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Ontario Lauded As North American Wind Power Leader

TORONTO, Jun 29, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Ontario, Canada was hailed as North America’s wind energy leader recently at an international conference in South Korea, where George Smitherman, Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, accepted the 2009 World Wind Energy Award.

The World Wind Energy Association presented its annual award to Minister Smitherman for his “outstanding achievements in making Ontario the leading wind energy jurisdiction in North America.” The international association also recognized the Minister’s role in championing Ontario’s Green Energy and Green Economy Act, calling the recently adopted legislation a decisive step toward establishing a strong domestic wind industry in the province and making it a worldwide green leader.
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Ottawa area Councillor urges study of wind farms for health risks

Ontario officials aren’t receptive to a councillor’s call for the province to halt new wind farms for 18 months until a study can assess whether the green-energy installations pose health risks.

Rideau-Goulbourn Councillor Glenn Brooks was going to ask council to direct the city’s chief medical officer of health to do the study, but the officer says it would be too expensive and time-consuming for his office. So, instead, Brooks says he plans to ask council at next week’s meeting of the rural-affairs committee to call on the province to act.

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Towns should fight against province imposing itself

Some 2,500 years ago, fable author Aesop opined that, “Persuasion is often more effectual than force.” It is an idea the current provincial government has decided holds no place, at least when it comes to matters it feels are important.

The list of areas where the government has chosen to exert the force of law over the persuasion of education is becoming legion, including but not limited to smoking, cellphone usage and, most importantly, wind power.

Ontario Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman reinforced the position Monday.

“We passed a law, and the law does not create an opportunity for municipalities to resist these projects just because they may have a concern,” he said.

On the surface, Smitherman’s comment makes sense; after all we can’t have people just running around breaking laws they don’t agree with. Otherwise you will start having black people riding in the front of buses, women voting and native people asking for land back that our forefathers stole from them.
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Resistance to wind farms not an option: George Smitherman

Ontario could become a North American environmental leader, but municipalities can’t stand in the way of wind power.

That was the message Tuesday (June 2) from Ontario Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman as he toured a hydroelectric plant here.

Smitherman, also Ontario’s deputy premier, praised Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. for its operation of the eight-megawatt plant.

“We are very, very proud that a lot of the investment that is occurring is taking place in the private sector,” Smitherman said. “We have many more opportunities here to create energy from what Mother Nature gives us from the wind and the sun and the water.”
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Wind farm helps end coal use: Smitherman

The Enbridge wind turbine project near Underwood is a step toward eliminating coal-fired electricity generation, Ontario Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure George Smitherman said Friday at the project’s official opening.

It also provides economic stimulus for farmers, increases the tax base and provides employment, he said.

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Ontario’s Proposed Green Energy Act

Posted by Ian:

In the preamble to the McGuinty government’s push “to boost renewable energy, economic growth and create a culture of conservation,” George Smitherman,Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure notes:

“There exists today a global race to establish the policies, attract the investment and build the foundation for the green economy that is sure to sustain future prosperity and progress. It is a race Ontario is determined to win. This proposed legislation would help Ontario become the preferred destination for green jobs, green investment and green energy.”

You’ll excuse me for taking a wait-and-see attitude, since residents in this part of Ontario remember Smitherman’s snarky attitude as he attempted to slyly shutter the palliative care unit at St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital and his pathetic shot across the bow of opponents to such a move, people he labelled as fear-mongers.

In any event, here is the background to this bold new green plan.
Green Energy Act