IESO Resource Adequacy Update Provides Long-Term View of Meeting Ontario’s Reliability, Affordability and Sustainability Objectives
August 25, 2022
Strong economic development and electrification of transportation are driving up electricity demand and increasing regional needs. The IESO is continuing to move forward on a series of procurements to secure more than 5,000 MW of capacity, as part of a comprehensive plan for acquiring the electricity supply needed to meet Ontario’s growing demand.
A request for qualifications from potential developers has resulted in 55 applicants qualified to participate in the upcoming Long-Term RFP (LT1 RFP) and accompanying Expedited Process procurements. These applicants demonstrate a broad international interest in investing in Ontario’s energy sector, and reinforce the value of competitive procurements to meet the province’s reliability needs cost-effectively.
Qualified applicants proposed projects with a broad diversity of supply types, including dozens of potential energy storage projects. The long-term procurements will dedicate opportunities to storage projects through a targeted amount of capacity, facilitating a resource that will be critical to long-term decarbonization goals.
Successful proponents from the Medium-Term RFP for existing supply have also been announced. Contract recommitments have been offered to one wind, one storage and four natural gas facilities currently supplying the provincial grid.
Across the board, these contracts will secure critical resources at a cost lower than previous agreements, reducing the impact on ratepayers. In addition, maintaining these existing facilities for an additional five years will help ensure reliability during peak demands, as well as support economic growth and enable a reliable path to decarbonization of the system and the economy.
Over the next several years, the IESO will continue to undertake successive medium-term procurements to competitively reacquire existing facilities as they come off contract, including the bulk of the renewable resources later this decade.
The Ontario Minister of Energy has asked the IESO to submit a report in early October to inform the eligibility of emitting resources in the long-term procurements while considering the need to preserve a reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity system.
The IESO has posted new materials related to the LT-RFP expedited process, and will be hosting a Q & A webinar on September 15 for stakeholders. IESO and legal experts will attend the webinar to outline the procurement documents and answer stakeholder questions. Please visit the LT RFP engagement page to register. Stakeholders are invited to propose topics for discussion in the webinar. Topics and questions stakeholders would like the IESO to address during the webinar can be sent to engagement@ieso.ca before September 2.