ABB, a multinational corporation operating mainly in the power and automation technology areas, and its consortium partner Bondfield Construction have won an order from Canadian Solar Solutions to supply a 100 MW turnkey photovoltaic (PV) solar project for the Grand Renewable Energy Park in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province. Once commissioned, this plant will become the Canada’s largest solar farm, surpassing the 80 MW Sarnia Solar Farm.
The plant is part of a $5 billion investment by Samsung Renewable Energy and partners to create a green energy cluster of wind and solar power, sources with the capacity to generate 1,369 MW of renewable energy. The first of these developments includes a 100 MW photovoltaic power plant and a 150 MW wind farm. Canadian Solar Solutions is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the plant.
According to the International Energy Agency, 267 MW of PV capacity was installed in Ontario in 2012, a 70 percent increase on the previous year. ABB is playing a major role in this expansion and has been awarded orders to deliver more than 90 MW of utility-scale PV plants in Ontario since September 2012.
“We are delighted to work with Canadian Solar Solutions on the country’s largest solar PV plant and to support Samsung’s visionary renewable energy initiative,” said ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer. “Our range of solar product and system offerings combined with an extensive track record in efficiently executing optimized utility-scale PV plants around the world will enable us to deliver a best-in-class solution to our customer.”
ABB will provide a balance of system (BOS) solution comprising a broad range of power and automation products, including ABB’s flagship automation platform for conventional power generation and renewable applications, Symphony™ Plus. ABB is also responsible for engineering, electrical installation, commissioning, and performance testing of the plant. Civil and mechanical installation works will be performed by ABB’s consortium partner, Ontario-based Bondfield Construction.
Once fully operational in 2015, the PV power plant will produce 165,000 megawatt-hours of emissions-free electricity a year, enough to power 13,750 Canadian homes. It will also contribute to a cleaner environment by displacing 162,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.