Ontario attracts clean energy manufacturing plants

RP news wires
Tags: green manufacturing, energy management

The province's first-ever wind turbine blade manufacturing plant and a new solar module manufacturing facility will serve Ontario's growing clean, green energy industry and create up to 1,400 jobs.

Canadian Solar Inc. on August 11 announced that Guelph would be the site of its first module facility in North America, creating up to 500 jobs. This follows on the heels of the August 10 announcement by Siemens and Samsung to build a wind turbine blade manufacturing plant in Ontario that will create up to 900 direct and indirect jobs. Less than one year after the launch of Ontario's landmark Green Energy Act, several other companies have announced plans to set up or expand solar and wind turbine manufacturing facilities in Ontario.

Companies that want to secure clean energy Feed-in Tariff (FIT) contracts must use Ontario products and services for a specific percentage of their project. The 694 clean energy contracts already announced are expected to create approximately 20,000 direct and indirect green economy jobs over five years and about $9 billion in private sector investment. These projects will generate enough electricity each year to power 600,000 homes

Ontario's new clean energy economy is creating jobs in construction, installation, operations and maintenance, engineering, manufacturing, finance, IT and software. It is part of the Open Ontario plan to create jobs and new opportunities for growth in the province.

"Ontario is celebrating two major milestones by attracting its first-ever wind turbine blade manufacturing plant and one of the largest solar module facilities in North America. Ontario is open for business and we look forward to welcoming more businesses as they invest in local economies and deliver a clean energy supply to Ontarians," said Brad Duguid, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure.