FIT rocks the supply chain

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FIT  is a good program and, hey, it’s working! So concluded the Ontario Feed-In Tariff Supply Chain Forum on Oct 6th even while admitting that there are some challenges.

Forum participants and panelists talked about topics process transparency, connection costs and timelines, domestic content and, of course, the stability of the program.

Most of these points, including the milestones and risks of developing your renewable project, are discussed in our latest report: “Feed-in tariffs: Accelerating renewable energy project development in Ontario”.

Local manufacturers had two pieces of advice for new entrants to the market:

1. Estimate your costs based on real metrics, namely KwH per year per dollars invested
2. Look beyond the barriers of Canada. Exporting is a solution to worrying about the future of the Ontario market size and political environment.

Solar project integrators and financiers talked about the “bankability” problem. On the technology level, bankability issues relate to the lack of manufacturing standards, quality, performance and warranty. According to these experts, bankability problems are not isolated to Ontario, and bankable panels are on high demand worldwide.

On the bright side, the Ontario Power Authority reported that the program uptake was at a whopping 3368 applications totaling 15,481 MW of capacity as of September of 2010. On-shore wind and ground-mounted PV accounted for 66% and 24% of the total applications’ capacity, respectively. Capacity Allocation Exempt (CAE) projects account for a total of 492 MW.

While Ontario’s wind industry is considered an established and growing one, solar project developers are supposed to use parts from local manufacturers to build their systems. So they’re happy that some important suppliers have added to the mix of Ontario-based solar module and solar component options. Some key examples of the interest that Feed in Tariff has attracted to Ontario include the Day4 Energy licensing model to regional manufacturers, the partnership between Canadian Solar and Satcon, the SunEdison parternship with regional developers and the opening of Heliene Canada module plant in Sault Ste. Marie.

Finally, the audience urged the government to complete a long-term program plan for the province and to educate the ratepayers about the relevance of incorporating renewable energies to Ontario’s energy supply mix.

We’ll keep you posted on further updates about FIT.

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Tags: cleantech, energy, FIT, solar, wind