b'CARBON NEUTRALA placein the sunThe Port Carling solar farm, pictured here, was the first to open and generates 500MW of solar energy each year. Photo (right) courtesy Petawawa Renewable Power Corp.When Brent says the company tries to beBrentheardaboutanentrepreneureconomically viable, they said the Ministry environmentally conscious, its more thanintheareawhowaslookingtosecuredidnt have a policy on solarThey put up lipservice.BrentQuarriesusesbiomassFITcontractswiththeprovince,andall sorts ofroadblocks.heating(woodpellets)atitsmainPorthethoughtthatunusedportionsofthe Carling site, which definitely helps in thecompanys quarry sites would be a perfectBrentwasdeterminedtofightforthe long, cold winters, when its trucks wouldsolution.Itdidnttakelongtoreachproject.Hemarshalledexperts,enlisted otherwise have to be plugged in overnightanagreement,andtheentrepreneurthe support of the local member of parlia-so they could be started in the morning.Petawawa Renewable Power Corp. (PRPC)ment, and had the opportunity to give the Butthethreesolarfarmsarethemost succeeded in getting three FIT contractsrecalcitrantMNRFofficialanearfulata visiblesignofthecompanysenviron- from the province. PRPC would own andspecial meeting to discuss the project. In mental awareness. Theyre located in Portoperate the solar farms, leasing the land forthe end, they gave us the go-ahead, Brent Carling, Ullswater and Rosseau, and eachthem from Brent Quarries, which wouldrecalls. They also said theyd get to work onegenerates500MW.ThePortCarlingget a percentage of the power sales. developingapolicyonsolar.Thatwas solar farm was the first to open, about twoseveral years ago now, and stillno policy.years ago. CHALLENGESThe project soon hit a snag, however. ToAnother hurdle cropped up. PRPC had None of this would have come into exis- goahead,thesolarfarmplansneededhiredengineersandcontractorsfrom tence if it hadnt been for the provincestheapprovalofOntariosMinistryofsouthern Ontario to build the solar farms, Feed-In Tariff (FIT) Program. EstablishedNatural Resources and Forestry (MNRF).andtheroughlocalgeographysolid in 2006 and substantially revised in 2009,TheMinistryslocalaggregateinspec- bedrockalternatingwithimpenetrable theFITprogramenabledsmall,privatetorsthoughtitwasagreatidea,Brentmuskegproved to be a serious challenge. suppliersofrenewableformsofenergysays,buttheirhigher-upsdidntlikeit.Contractors from the south arent used to to secure long-term contracts to sell thatTheycameupwithallkindsofreasonsworking in our terrain, Brent says. Rock power to the province.nottoapproveit.Theysaiditwasntin particular is daunting if you arent used FALL 2020AVENUES 19'