Pattern Energy Group L.P. together with the renewable energy unit of Koreas Samsung C&T Corp. bought a 180-megawatt wind farm from Spanish renewable energy company Acciona S.A.
Armow wind farm marks the companies fourth wind farm under development in Ontario. Its construction is set to begin in 2013 in Kincardine Township, northeast of Toronto and is scheduled to go into operation the following year.
The facility will produce enough clean energy each year to power nearly 50,000 households annually. It will also prevent more than 675,000 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year. The price of the deal was not disclosed.
In total, the four wind farms being developed by the companies will provide 870 MW of power to serve 300,000 homes every year. Around 600 MW of wind turbine components of these projects will be Ontario-made manufactured by Siemens AG factories in Tillsonburg and Windsor.
Under power purchase agreements with Ontario Power Authority, the projects will be paid above-market rates for the renewable power they produce by meeting domestic content requirements.
Based on current rates posted on the utilitys web site, onshore wind farms developed after 2012 are paid a feed-in rate of 13.5 cents guaranteed for 20 years provided that 50 percent of their components are Ontario-made.
The other three projects in Ontario are the 270-MW South Kent wind project under development in Chatham-Kent, the 270-MW K2 wind project in the Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh and the 150-MW Grand Renewable Energy Park, a wind and solar power project under development in Haldimand County.
As of December last year, the O.P.A. is managing 3,364 MW of wind power contracts. Ontarios feed-in tariff program is currently under scrutiny by Japan and the European Union, saying that is illegal under global trade rules because it gives an unfair advantage to local producers.
Both countries have filed formal complaints at the World Trade Organization.
Samsung consortium in Ontario
Mike Garland, chief executive of Pattern Energy, said that strong winds blowing in Ontario were one of the key reasons why they decided to buy Armow from Acciona. The Global Wind Energy Council agrees, saying that the province is the current leader in installed wind energy capacity in Canada.
With 1,457 MW of wind power generating capacity, Ontario accounts for roughly one-third of the countrys wind power. In comparison, the provinces of Alberta and Quebec follow with generating capacities of 806 MW and 663 MW respectively.
The source of Ontarios strong winds could be three of the five Great Lakes - Huron, Erie and Ontario - that surround the province. These lakes, on the Canada - United States border, have long been planned to be developed as sites for offshore winds farms, which both countries have yet to have.
The provinces wind energy resources together with its feed-in tariff program could primarily be the reasons why a consortium led by Samsung decided to invest 7 billion Canadian dollars in the province in January last year.
Samsung with its manufacturing partners Dongkuk Steel, Satcon and Pattern Energy plans to install 2,000 MW worth of wind turbines as well as 500 MW of solar power facilities in the province. The Green Energy Investment Agreement will generate new renewable energy sources equivalent to 4 percent of Ontarios total electricity consumption.
A study conducted for the Canadian Wind Energy Association by researchers from ClearSky Advisors published last June said that Ontarios wind capacity will grow from 1,428 MW recorded in 2010 (slightly lower than GWEC estimates) to more than 7,100 MW by 2018, a target set out in the provinces long-term energy plan.
However, wind farms already installed or currently being developed under the provinces F.I.T. program plus the Samsung deal already represents over 8,300 MW of potential wind energy capacity, far surpassing the 5,600 GW of additional capacity required to provincial targets for wind energy.
source: APEC-VC Korea
