THUNDER BAY -- Capacity issues in Northwestern Ontario has forced large green energy projects in the region off the grid.
Applications closed on Tuesday for the next round of renewable power ventures, but of the 119 bids deemed eligible none are located west of Timmins.
Due to a lack of capacity in Northwestern Ontario and Algoma, the Independent Electricity System Operator disqualified the region from applying for the Large Renewable Procurement, a program to build large-scale, private wind and solar generating farms that will contribute to Hydro One's electricity grids.
For most of the last decade, wind and solar development has been restricted in Northwestern Ontario because the transmission lines can't support more generating capacity.
"Basically, we need projects to connect where we can get power into the system, all the way through the transmission system," said IESO spokeswoman Mary Bernard.
"Moving power around, there isn't the ability to get projects in that area through the transmission system to where the power would be used."
Red Lake economic development officer Bill Greenway claims the issue has cost the region two viable solar projects and the Northwest continues to lose out on green energy development, even as prospective mines are crying out for power.
He said designating Northwestern Ontario at high capacity years ago and then not increasing that capacity has stunted development in resource extraction industries.
"That was five to seven years ago. Fast forward to 2015 and nothing has changed. We have nothing. We have a bunch of empty promises," Greenway said.
"The whole thing about this is, if they don't have the capacity to bring on new generating projects, how are we supposed to ever economically develop the north?
Co-chair of the Northwestern Ontario Energy Task Force, Iain Angus is relieved the IESO is formally making Northwestern Ontario projects ineligible. In past tenure rounds, companies have worked to complete applications, only to be told the grid can't support bringing large projects online.
"Anything wanting to connect through Hydro One networks is just out of luck in the Northwest, which means we're at a real disadvantage in terms of economic opportunities," he said.
"Notwithstanding all the work the Energy Task Force has been doing to convince the government they need to have a number of things in place in order to make sure the new mines come on stream, the reality is right now, we don't have the load that would require additional generation."
Angus sees potential for energy growth over the next two years as mines are expected to start drawing power near Red Lake, Geraldton and Emo. Until that happens, he said, biomass generation will have to support energy shortfalls.
"We can always increase supply to Atikokan (Generating Station), we can always increase supply to the Thunder Bay Generating Station. All of that is doable. It's a question of having the load connecting to the grid that requires additional sources of electricity and that's part of the issue with solar and wind."
