Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) expects over 3,200MW of renewable capacity to be connected to the transmission system during the 18-month period, while coal-fired stations will shut.
The renewable capacity includes the Canadian province’s first two transmission grid-connected solar projects. Meanwhile, the province’s remaining coal-fired power plants will be shut over the same period.
By August 2014, Ontario’s power grid operator said the total solar and wind generation connected to the transmission and distribution systems is estimated to reach nearly 6,800MW.
IESO resource integration vice-president Bruce Campbell remarked that integration of renewable resources into the province’s supply mix has been ‘a learning process’.
"Everything we’ve learned will be applied in the coming months as wind and solar gain even more prominence on the grid," Campbell added.
The six remaining 475MW coal-fired power units at Lambton and Nanticoke will stop burning coal by the end of 2013.
In addition, the grid operator said the conversion of 211MW Atikokan coal-fired plant to biomass is underway and the unit may go on stream by the third quarter of 2014.