15.07.2015   EuroSun2008-9

Power Purchase Agreements for Solar Thermal. Break Down Barriers to Renewable Energy. Implementation in North America

I. Sinclair

Vice President — Engineering, Mondial Energy Inc., 2240 Queen St. E., Toronto, ON M4E 1G2, Canada
* Corresponding Author, isinclair@mondial-energy. com

Abstract

Mondial Energy Inc. has pioneered the sale of solar thermal energy through Power Purchase Agreements to the building industry in North America. Requirements to meter remotely energy delivered in real time has bought key advancements in metering and monitoring. This has brought the industry to commercial scale for the first time in Canada. The need to ensure consistent energy delivery and to satisfy investors has resulted in significant improvements in ongoing commissioning and maintenance practices. The data acquired has led to identifying solar thermal as a fuel switching alternative to electrical generation at peak times in Ontario. Keywords: Solar thermal, power purchase agreements, fuel switching, North America

1. Introduction

Until very recently the solar thermal industry in Canada has been struggling to climb out of its position as a niche, cottage industry, primarily serving the residential and small commercial/institutional markets only. This is mostly due to historically low energy prices for both electricity and natural gas in comparison with other World markets. However other important barriers have been owners’ perceptions of risk associated with solar thermal in a primarily cold climate, maintenance concerns and also lack of access to capital.

The introduction of the Power Purchase Agreement model through Mondial Energy Inc. — where the owner contracts with Mondial to pay for, own, install and operate the system, has removed these barriers, while bringing economies of scale to the solar thermal industry. As a result the largest solar thermal hot water systems in Ontario have all been built under this model in the past two years.

This business model is now being adopted by local governments as a way for them to bring renewable energy to their buildings without having to manage the work and associated risk, or provide up-front capital.