The Ontario Power Authority has awarded 40 new contracts for more than 872 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy under the FIT Program, following the completion of the second phase of the Transmission Availability Test (TAT) and the Distribution Availability Test (DAT).  

These new contracts include 257 MW of solar projects and 615 MW of wind projects and are located across the province.  They will generate enough combined electricity each year to power 200,000 homes or a community the size of Burlington. 

For a listing of these second-round FIT contracts, click here.

This brings the total number of contracts awarded by the OPA under the FIT program to 1,570, representing 3,565 MW of clean, renewable energy for Ontario.

The OPA began the testing for transmission and distribution availability in October 2010 for larger FIT applications that were submitted between December 1, 2009, and June 4, 2010.  The TAT and DAT were delayed because of the exceptionally high volume of second round FIT applications received. In total, there were 324 large FIT applications (greater than 500 kW) with a potential generating capacity of 4,547 MW. 

Applicants who were not awarded contracts because transmission capacity is not currently available have been added to the priority ranking list and will proceed to the Economic Connection Test (ECT).  The ECT will determine whether the costs of the required system upgrades to enable renewable generation to connect are justifiable for initiating development work and can be included in grid expansion plans. Details and timing regarding the ECT process will follow shortly.

The updated priority ranking of projects is available by clicking here.

In the coming weeks, the OPA expects to begin awarding phase three contracts for capacity allocation exempt (CAE) projects (under 500 kilowatts) that applied between June 5, 2010, and December 7, 2010.

For phase one large FIT contract offers (applications submitted during the launch period), click here. 

For phase one CAE contract offers (applications submitted during the launch period), click here.

For phase two CAE contract offers (applications submitted between December 1, 2009, and June 4, 2010), click here.