Rivalry in wind energy between Quebec & Ontario is not going to help in developing Canadian expertise & potential for export in growth industries according to a few manufacturers. In Quebec, developers of wind farms have to ensure expenditure of a minimum of 60% of total costs of wind farms in the province while in Ontario this figure is going to be 50% by 2012. The goal in the case of every province is to make a homegrown chain of supply, expertise and jobs.

But manufacturers like REpower Systems & Siemens Canada say that the supply chain will be much stronger if both central Canadian provinces developed a system by which manufacturers from one of the provinces got recognition or credits in the other.
The Canadian Director of REpower, HHelmut Herold said on Tuesday when in an interview during an Industry Conference at Montreal, “It is beneficial for both provinces and will also avoid duplication of work for manufacturers.”

His company, that supplies nearly 477 turbines to 5 wind farms in Quebec opened an office for sales recently in Toronto. Herold raised this issue last weel with the senior staff at Ontario’s department for economic development. But, he isn’t the only one that wants local content rules to be harmonized between Ontario and Quebec. Siemens too supports this idea as do other newcomers to the industry like turbine manufacturers in Quebec, AAER Inc.

The push for the change in local content regulations systems is going to gain strength in the industry even inspite of uncertainty because of the $7 billion green energy pact that was signed between Samsung Group and Ontario. When Ontario implemented the Green Energy Act in October it said that open & equal access was going to be given to all energy transmission lines and also guaranteed premiums for all green energy makers.

This 20 year deal gives the biggest conglomerate in South Korea access to 500 MW of transmission capacity from the electricity grid of Ontario. This space is limited and high in demand. Their access is going to go up to 2500 MW as time goes by.

Also, with a lot of capital, the wind farms want access to lines of transmission so that the power is in the hands of the consumer. This deal, raised uncertainty on how Ontario will reserve transmissions later on & investors do not like uncertainty.

A combination of local regulations of content in Ontario and Quebec will let companies enjoy the economies of scale & make complete sense, Eric Phaneuf, AAER’s C.F.O. said during an telephone interview.