Government of Ontario gives green light for FiT plans

The Government of Ontario, Canada, announced back in March plans for renewable energy, and in particular a feed-in tariff (FiT) for the region. These plans have now been finalized, as the government announces that it will proceed as planned.

The FiT program is a critical element of the government's Green Energy and Green Economy Act. This is the "green light that clean-technology companies and potential customers across Ontario have been awaiting. It will launch a surge of clean-energy projects ranging from small, residential installations to industrial and utility-scale generating systems," said Ian MacLellan, President of ARISE Technologies Corporation's Systems Division.

ARISE is among the clean-technology companies that expect to benefit from the new FiT program, which replaces the government's previous Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP).

This announcement brings in to action the first FiT program in North America. The Ontario program is expected to become a model for other provinces, states, and municipalities to follow. It should also make way for an increase in development and innovation, leading to green job opportunities in the region.

"ARISE currently has numerous commercial and residential solar projects under consideration. We expect that the FiT program will stimulate demand for PV solar-power projects across all segments, from community-based rooftops and commercial installations to large utility-scale solar farms," stated Vern Heinrichs, the company's President and Chief Executive Officer.

Heinrichs also expects that FiT rates should enable solar participants to generate consistent, reasonable, and predictable returns over the long term, and that should make such projects attractive for financing.

"Judging from the numbers of solar feasibility studies that ARISE has recently conducted for prospective customers, interest is expected to be particularly strong in the small- to medium-sized residential and commercial segments. The provision of long-term price guarantees is expected to increase investor confidence and access to financing, which should smooth the way for numerous projects that have been on the drawing board for some time as well as many new ones," said MacLellan.

"In growing our Systems Division's business, we also expect to create demand for our PV cells for use in the solar panels in the systems that we install to meet the demand in Ontario. We currently are in discussions with module manufacturers toward proceeding with leveraging our vertical integration capability in pursuing opportunities in Ontario. We believe that the vertical integration that ARISE is developing from silicon production through PV cell manufacturing and systems installation should provide us with a competitive advantage in terms of supply-chain economies and quality assurance," added Heinrichs.