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Orillia Packet & Times
The Sunshine City is starting to live up to its moniker.
Orillia Power Generation Corp. announced the Barnfield Point Recreation Centre as the first of four rooftop solar installations planned for local buildings over the next few months.
“They’ll be bringing in power when the sun is shining,” president and CEO Keith McAllister said Wednesday. “It not only delivers green energy, but also decreases our reliance on traditional energy sources.”
Three other installations — the Orillia Power on West Street, TeleTech/Nordia on Hunter Valley Road and Rotary Place on University Avenue — should be online by year end, according to McAllister. The installations will also all feature software that allows them to be controlled remotely.
The panels at the Barnfield Point site were placed at 10-degree angles from the roof, making it difficult to see from ground level, but perfect for getting the full effects of the sun. All totalled, McAllister said the four projects will feature 4,268 solar panels.
Once completed, the four projects should generate more than 1,400 megawatt hours of clean energy per year — enough to power 1,700 average Canadian homes for one year — and has the potential to offset an estimated 150,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere or 76 fewer cars on the road, according to the utility.
McAllister said the power company’s board of directors should also be commended for supporting the project when it was suggested two years ago.
Mayor Angelo Orsi said it’s important to celebrate Orillia Power’s ongoing investment in green technologies.
“It makes great sense to look at a project that not only generates power, but also creates revenue,” he said.
Energy produced by the rooftop panels will be purchased by the Ontario Power Authority under the terms of Ontario’s Feed-in Tariff Program, which was created to encourage more renewable-energy sources in the province’s electricity system.
“As a round number, the four sites are expected to produce total revenues of about $600,000 per year,” McAllister said, noting money raised over the 20-year contracts will benefit the power company’s shareholder: the City of Orillia.
“The average price we will sell the power at is approximately 53.9 cents per kilowatt hour. The total cost of these projects is less than $4 million.”
Dan Landry, the city’s economic development manager, said the move illustrates Orillia’s role as a progressive city.
“It’s great that the Sunshine City is running on solar power,” Landry said, noting the revenue is also an added benefit. “It’s a natural fit. It will be great to look at other buildings to determine other possible locations for solar panels.”
“We have over 20% return of equity on a project basis,” he added.
Orillia Power Generation Corp., a subsidiary of parent company Orillia Power Corp., also owns and operates three water-power generation stations in Ontario.
