Small Feed-In-Tariff Solar Projects
Presentation to the City of Greater Sudbury
October, 2013
About Gengrowth
• Leading Ontario renewable energy company
• We have been developing renewable energy projects,
both wind and solar, in Ontario over the last 10 years;
• We have worked closely with a number of municipalities
in Ontario on the development, permitting and
construction of our projects, including the Municipality of
Chatham-Kent, Town of Lakeshore and a number of
municipalities in eastern Ontario.
Projects We Have Developed
• 130 megawatts (“MW”) of wind power in southwestern
Ontario; 90 MW in operation, 40 MW shortly under
construction.
• 60 MW of large scale solar in operation in eastern
Ontario.
• Currently working on a 100 MW solar farm north of
Kingston Ontario; construction planned for spring 2014.
• Portfolio of 250-500 kilowatt solar projects throughout
Ontario.
• 800 microfit solar projects.
Projects in the City of Greater
Sudbury
• We are currently developing 6 small ground mount solar
FIT projects (the “Projects) in City of Greater Sudbury
(“Sudbury”).
• Each Project is limited to a maximum size of 500 kilowatts
(“kW”).
• General Rule: Approximately 6 to 10 acres of land is
required for 1 Megawatt of solar. Therefore a 500 kW
Project will require approximately 3 to 5 acres of land. A
250 kW Project will require approximately 1.5 to 3 acres of
land.
• None of the Projects are located in Residential
Areas
Walford Road, City of Sudbury
• This project WOULD NOT be permitted under the
current FIT or MicroFIT Rules.
Current FIT and MicroFIT Rules
• The current FIT Program Rules or MicroFIT Program
Rules would not permit the installation of a solar project
like the one shown in the previous picture.
• In residential areas solar projects would be limited to the
roof of the house or other buildings.
• Ground mount solar projects are limited rural/agricultural
areas.
The Projects
• The Projects we are developing are located on large
farm/agricultural parcels of property; generally 50 acres
and larger.
• Small scale solar Projects are a good fit on larger
agricultural parcels of land as the landowner can continue
to use and farm most of the property and earn additional
income that is important to support continued farming
operations.
• Large size of the host properties and low height of the
solar panels enables the siting of the Project to result in
minimal to no impact on neighbouring properties.
Ground Mount Solar Project - Examples
• Examples of 250 kilowatt projects:
Ground Mount Solar Project - Examples
• 1.1 megawatt project. Please note that this project is
at least twice as large as the Projects we are
developing
Project Maps
Project # 1
Legal property description: PCL 2432 SEC SWS; E 1/2 OF E 1/2 LT 1 CON 6 RAYSIDE
EXCEPT LT54619; S/T LT183483, LT85621; GREATER SUDBURY (PIN 733450549).
Project Maps
Project # 2 Legal property description: PCL 609 SEC SES; W 1/2 LT 12 CON 6 BLEZARD EXCEPT LT304
& PT 27 LT214322, LT 2 TO 4 EXPROP PL M718 & LT 1 EXPROP PL M762; S/T LT183483; GREATER SUDBURY
(PIN 735000125).
Project Maps
Project # 3 Legal Description (partial) PCL 684 SEC SES; W 1/2 LT 9 CON 1 HANMER GREATER
SUDBURY (PIN 735050239).
Project Maps
Project # 4 Legal property description (partial): PT LT 11 CON 6 BLEZARD; GREATER SUDBURY (PIN
735000428).
Project Maps
Project # 5 Legal property description (partial): PCL 7477 SEC SWS; PT LT 7 CON 5 RAYSIDE;
GREATER SUDBURY (PIN 733450490).
Project Maps
Project # 6
Legal property description: PCL 4611 SEC SES; PT LT 10 CON 2 HANMER AS IN EP5412
EXCEPT PT 1 53R11322; GREATER SUDBURY (PIN 735050250).
Project Requirements
• Ground mount solar projects cannot be located on lands
designated by OMAFRA as specialty crop areas, organic
soils or with a CLI land class of 1-3. Therefore, the
Projects will be located on CLI Class 4 lands or higher.
• This ensures that lands with the most productive soils are
not utilized for solar projects.
• Current FIT rules also contain setback and visual screening
requirements.
• The Projects must undertake all required environmental
studies and obtain all required environmental approvals e.g.
REA or EASR.
Municipal Council Support
Resolution
• For the Projects we are requesting a Municipal Council
Support Resolution (the “Resolution”) from Council.
• The Resolution is not an approval of the Project and does
not “guarantee” that the Project will be built.
• The Project still must comply/undertake with all Provincial
approvals e.g. REA or EASR.
• The Project must still obtain the required building permits,
entry permits and any rights of way agreements with the
City.
Support Resolution Continued
• The Resolution only assists the Projects in the application
and review process done by the OPA.
• All projects submitted to the OPA are ranked by the
number of priority points they have. For example, projects
that have an equity interest by a First Nations entity or a
community group are awarded 3 points. Projects on a
located on a Public Sector property are awarded 2 points.
• A Municipal Resolution provides a project with 2 priority
points.
Challenges of Obtaining FIT
Contracts
• Projects are rejected by the OPA for a number of reasons
e.g. failure to meet Land Class and zoning requirements or
lack of electricity system capacity.
• In the last application window that opened in December
2012 (for up to 200 MW) over 4000 applications were
submitted to the OPA. Only 20-25% were awarded a FIT
Contract.
• Therefore, even if a project has the maximum number of
FIT priority points there is no guarantee of receiving a FIT
Contract.
FIT Projects in Sudbury
• Of all of the projects that came before Council (and others who
did not) requesting a Support Resolution during the December
2012 application window only 2 projects were awarded FIT
Contracts in Sudbury;
• The Nov. 2013 application window and the application windows
planned by the OPA for 2014 and 2015 will be smaller (approx.
150 MW) than the December 2012 window (200 MW).
• It is expected that the level of competition across the Province for
FIT Contracts will be higher than in previous application windows.
• Therefore, due to many factors, including limited electrical
connection capacity and high level of competition across the
Province, it is unlikely that Sudbury will be inundated with a large
number of small FIT projects.