Three renewable energy projects proposed for the Ridgetown and Bothwell areas will go before Chatham-Kent council Monday night as developers seek municipal support to advance in the provincial approval process.
Two wind farms — the Botany Wind Project northwest of Ridgetown and the Crossfield Wind Farm northeast of Ridgetown — are proposed to generate 100 and 110 megawatts respectively, with each site planning 15 to 18 turbines depending on the model selected.
A third proposal, the Ridgetown 1 Solar Project from FLT Energy Inc., includes two solar installations on vacant municipal land: a 6.5-megawatt site off Mitton Line in Ridgetown and a 2.4-megawatt site off Elm Street West in Bothwell.
“According to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), the growth of Ontario’s electricity system must accelerate at an unprecedented pace,” stated Bruce McAllister, general manager of development services, in a staff report.
“The IESO forecasts annual electricity demand to grow 75 per cent by 2050 due to economic growth, electrification, and evolving technologies. To ensure reliable and affordable electricity is available where and when it is needed, the IESO is moving forward with plans to build a significant amount of new supply and transmission infrastructure, as well as to expand energy efficiency programs.”
McAllister added: “To address Ontario’s growing electricity needs, the IESO has initiated several electricity supply acquisition mechanisms, including the Long-Term 2 (LT2) procurement process. The LT2 Request for Proposal (RFP) seeks to procure new supply resources and will include multiple proposal submission windows that will be run on approximately an annual basis.
McAllister said the LT2 RFP will be open to various technologies and may see wind, solar, bioenergy, energy storage, combined heat and power, hydroelectric and natural gas projects come forward under the first submission windows.
“Successful projects will be awarded a 20-year contract term,” McAllister added.
Municipal support is a mandatory step before developers can submit their proposals to the IESO.
Such a resolution does “not guarantee” a project will be approved or override other required permits, McAllister added in his report.
While renewable energy expansion aligns with provincial goals, large-scale wind projects have previously sparked debate among residents in Chatham-Kent.
The reports for the three proposed projects can be found, here.
Monday’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the Civic Centre in Chatham.
Watch for more on this story.
