Nova Scotia says ratepayers assured cheaper renewable electrical energy in historic procurement

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Firms have till Monday to declare their intent to bid on the most important ever Nova Scotia authorities procurement for low-cost renewable vitality — 350 megawatts, or sufficient to energy 110,000 houses.

As much as 5 initiatives are anticipated to be chosen later this summer season with the purpose of decreasing the province’s greenhouse fuel emissions by greater than a million tonnes yearly.

In contrast to the final large authorities renewables program, ratepayers won’t be saddled with costly electrical energy, mentioned the province’s minister of pure sources and renewables.

“There is a mechanism in there that’s truly going to cap what the vitality value might be. Ratepayers are going to be protected,” mentioned Tory Rushton. 

The request for proposals for wind and photo voltaic vitality initiatives issued final month guarantees to ship electrical energy at the very least 57 per cent cheaper than the discontinued neighborhood feed-in tariff program, also referred to as COMFIT.

The province has set a most worth of 5.6 kilowatts per kilowatt hour in comparison with 13 cents beneath COMFIT.

Program killed in 2015

The then NDP authorities launched this system greater than a decade in the past to create jobs and get renewable electrical energy on the grid.

Neighborhood teams have been assured larger costs for 20-year phrases at 13 cents per kilowatt hour.

The following Liberal authorities cancelled COMFIT in 2015, saying this system was rising too costly and would trigger Nova Scotia Energy to lift electrical energy charges.

Greater than 80 initiatives — largely wind — have been developed beneath this system, and at the moment feed 150 megawatts into the grid.

Decrease value of electrical energy from renewables 

This week, the Nova Scotia Utility and Assessment Board launched its annual abstract of the continued value of COMFIT.

The board mentioned it prices almost twice as a lot as different sources, accounting for 4.8 per cent of whole provide, however is accountable for 9.5 per cent of whole gas prices.

Brandy Giannetta of the Canadian Renewable Power Affiliation mentioned that is what it value again within the day.

“Nova Scotians want to know that the worth of these contracts, on the time that they have been signed, was an applicable reflection of the price of that energy,” she mentioned.

Giannetta mentioned the price of electrical energy generated by wind generators dropped by 71 per cent since 2009 and photo voltaic has dropped by 90 per cent.

“Wind at the moment in Canada is now the bottom value possibility of recent electrical energy technology that we will depend on. So we can’t see that stage of pricing once more in Canada on this procurement particularly, or in all probability ever,” she mentioned.

The procurement is a key ingredient in assembly the federal government’s promise that 80 per cent of electrical energy will come from renewable sources by 2030.

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