On November 23, 2010, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) received a directive from the Minister of Energy authorizing the procurement of individually negotiated Combined Heat and Power (CHP) projects greater than 20 megawatts (MW) in capacity.

Over the past several years, the OPA has conducted three procurements for CHP projects, which have resulted in contracts for more than 450 MW of capacity.  These projects represent a wide range of technologies, applications, industries and geographic locations.  The OPA recognizes and thanks proponents who submitted proposals under previous procurement initiatives.

Through this procurement the OPA will be seeking projects with strong economics that will produce electricity at attractive prices.  The OPA will target projects that are located in areas that can be accommodated by the transmission and distribution grids in areas that have electricity loads. 

CHP IV program documents, can be found by clicking here. 

Prospective CHP participants are cautioned that in some areas of the province, it is not currently feasible to connect additional generating facilities to either the bulk transmission system or local distribution system.  This also may include projects connected to electrical loads. The CHP procurement is expected to include up-front, locational eligibility requirements, which may exclude projects located in certain areas of the province from participating in the procurement. The CHP procurement may also require that proposals are subjected to connection availability screening tests to assess whether the project can be accommodated by the bulk transmission system or local distribution system, as applicable.  In cases where the tests indicate projects cannot be accommodated, projects will be rejected from the process.

Please note that potential CHP projects must not be the subject of a connection impact assessment (CIA), unless applied for prior to November 23, 2010, to be eligible for the procurement.

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