March 1 (Reuters) - Ontario's power grid operator expects
more than 3,200 megawatts (MW) of renewable capacity to be
connected to the transmission system, while the province's
remaining coal-fired plants will shut over the next 18 months.
In a report published on Thursday, the Independent
Electricity System Operator (IESO) said the renewable capacity
includes the Canadian province's first two transmission
grid-connected solar projects.
By August 2014, the IESO said total wind and solar
generation connected to the transmission and distribution
systems is expected to reach about 6,800 MW.
"Integrating renewable resources into Ontario's changing
supply mix has been a learning process for both us and the
renewable generators," Bruce Campbell, IESO Vice-President of
Resource Integration, said in the release.
"Everything we've learned will be applied in the coming
months as wind and solar gain even more prominence on the grid,"
he said.
The grid operator also said the six remaining 475-MW
coal-fired units at Lambton and Nanticoke are scheduled to stop
burning coal by the end of 2013.
In addition, the conversion of 211-MW Atikokan from a
coal-fired plant to biomass is underway, with the unit expected
to be in service by the third quarter of 2014.
Despite these big changes, the IESO said Ontario will