Renewable Energy to Play Key Role in Alberta's Electricity Future

CALGARY, AB--(Marketwired - March 03, 2016) -  As one of its first actions under the Climate Leadership Plan, the Government of Alberta has chosen the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) to develop and implement a renewable electricity incentive program to add additional renewable generation capacity into Alberta's electricity system.

"We are pleased to help support the government's Climate Leadership Plan by developing and implementing an incentive program to bring more renewables onto the grid and to do so in a low cost manner," says Mike Law, Vice-President of Renewables Development and Sustainability. "We appreciate the government's commitment to integrating new sources of renewable power into the Alberta electric system without compromising reliability."

The AESO has a track record for developing and implementing procurements of various sizes and across a broad range of services and products, such as Canada's first Competitive Process for transmission infrastructure, the Fort McMurray West 500 kV Transmission Project.

The first competition for new renewable electricity projects is expected in late 2016, following approval from the Government of Alberta. The government has requested that the AESO provide its recommendations on program design in May 2016. Stakeholder engagement will commence immediately, and developers, investors and other interested parties are encouraged to visit www.aeso.ca/rep for further information and to complete our online questionnaire.

The AESO is well positioned to execute on the Renewable Electricity Program, and has been recognized across North America as leading edge with respect to integration of wind onto its grid. Over the last five years, the AESO has made necessary investments to our transmission infrastructure to ensure that we can support the integration of additional generation -- including renewables -- and move power from where it is produced to where it is needed. During that same timeframe, Alberta's renewables portfolio has increased by 45% from 1,927 MW in 2010 to 2,785 MW today.

The Alberta Electric System Operator is responsible for the safe, reliable, and economic planning and operation of the Alberta Interconnected Electric System. We provide open and non-discriminatory access to Alberta's interconnected power grid and we also facilitate Alberta's competitive wholesale electricity market which, in 2015, had about 200 participants and approximately $4 Billion in annual energy transactions.