Wind turbines at the White Pine Wind project can be seen near a farm in Milford, Ont., on July 12, 2018. The project was cancelled by the PC government that year.Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press
Ontario has opened the door to new wind and solar power farms in the coming years, days after announcing two massive nuclear projects as the province prepares for electricity demand to potentially double over the next three decades.
The return to renewable energy projects appears in the government’s Powering Ontario plan, released on Monday, which says that the province will look to another round of electricity generation procurement in 2025-26 that will include “non-emitting energy technologies such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, and biogas.”
However, the report also says any new projects will need to have resolutions in support passed by local municipal councils and that Indigenous “participation and support” will be a “key feature.”
The Progressive Conservative government cancelled hundreds of wind and solar energy contracts when it was first elected in 2018, landing it in court and costing it more than $200-million, saying the previous Liberal government was wrong to lock in inflated rates for greener power. Plus, windmill farms in particular had also faced vehement local opposition in some areas.
Since then, environmentalists and opposition politicians have painted the government as anti-green power, noting that as the province’s nuclear reactors go offline for phased, multibillion-dollar refurbishments, Ontario will increasingly rely on polluting gas plants for electricity.
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In the single biggest boost for nuclear power in Ontario in decades, Energy Minister Todd Smith last week announced that his government would work with privately owned Bruce Power to potentially build the first new full-scale nuclear power plant in Ontario since 1993, as well as three more small modular reactors (SMRs) on the site of Ontario Power Generation’s existing Darlington nuclear plant.
On Monday, Mr. Smith was in Windsor to unveil the rest of the government’s new power plan, designed to respond to a recent report from the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) that said Ontario could need to spend $400-billion to decarbonize its power grid by 2050, while doubling its size to cope with new demands from electric vehicles and increasing electrification in other areas.
In an interview, Mr. Smith said conditions are different for wind and solar power from in 2018. His government’s procurement of new battery storage projects will allow for these projects to be more useful, even when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine.
But he defended his focus on nuclear power. The previous Liberals, he said, did not have to worry about rising electricity needs “because demand was flat in the province and jobs were leaving for other jurisdictions. This is the first time in 18 years that electricity demand is increasing.”
The rest of the plan includes calls for new transmission lines and better use of existing hydroelectric dams. And it calls for the IESO to review two proposed long-duration “pump-storage” facilities, one in Meaford and the other in Marmora. These are hydroelectric dams that can store water in reservoirs, pumped there with excess power produced during off-peak times, and then generate electricity with it when needed. The document also says Ontario should launch a new round of improved energy conservation programs.
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Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada, said the plan was flawed for treating renewable energy as an “afterthought,” with massive new nuclear plants still its focus.
“My big concern is that they are putting the cart before the horse when it comes to system planning,” he said. “They are announcing 6,000 megawatts of nuclear before they even start looking at energy conservation or renewables.”
Provincial Liberal interim leader John Fraser accused the government of being “asleep at the switch” after cancelling scores of green energy contracts in 2018, noting the recent report of the North American Electric Reliability Corp., which warned that Ontario faces a risk of a power shortfalls if extreme conditions were to hit this summer.
Peter Tabuns, the NDP climate action and energy critic, said the government’s plan was too scant on details and actual cost projections – and still manages to play down the lowest-cost options: solar power and energy conservation.
”For a lot of pages, with a lot of pictures, it’s a pretty thin report,” Mr. Tabuns said.
Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner accused Premier Doug Ford of having “grossly mismanaged” Ontario’s energy supply, while missing the boat on attracting the rush of global investment in renewable energy.