Ontario Clean Technology Alliance at WINDPOWER 2011 to Attract Investment as Canada's Most Populous Province Builds Out 10,433 MW of Wind Energy Capacity

ANAHEIM, CA--(Marketwire - May 24, 2011) - WINDPOWER 2011 -- Executives from the Ontario Clean Technology Alliance are attending WINDPOWER 2011 in Anaheim as the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) has declared that the province of Ontario is Canada's wind energy leader. Ontario, Canada's most populous province with 13.2 million people, boasts 1,636 MW of current installed capacity, a further 2,125 MW based on signed contracts, and applications for an additional 6,672 MW of wind energy development, for a total of 10,433 MW.

Regional members of the Ontario Clean Technology Alliance want to show wind energy companies from around the world that Ontario is the best place in North America to expand or relocate their businesses. Ontario offers targeted alternative energy and clean technology incentives, a deep talent pool, and a strong and stable economy.

CanWEA states that each 100 MW of wind energy development represents a minimum of 100 jobs, $2.5 million in private investment, and $300,000 in revenue to municipal governments in the form of taxes and an equal amount to rural landowners in the form of lease payments. Each 100 MW of wind energy also provides Ontarians with enough clean, affordable electricity to power about 3,000 homes.

"For the wind industry, our most compelling attraction is the Ontario Power Authority's feed-in tariff, or FIT Program. It features North America's first comprehensive guaranteed pricing structure for renewable electricity production, offering stable prices under long-term contracts for on-shore wind, solar photovoltaic, biomass, biogas, landfill gas, and waterpower energy," says Rakesh Naidu, the Director for Business Attraction at the Windsor-Essex Economic Development Corporation, an Ontario Clean Technology Alliance member.

Ontario is a North American leader in the adoption of green energy policies with its passing of the Green Energy Act in May 2009. Other targeted programs available to the alternative energy and clean technology sector include: Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund, Ontario Innovation Demonstration Fund, Ontario Power Authority Technology Development Fund, SDTC Sustainable Tech Fund, and SDTC NextGen Biofuels Fund.

To ready the province for more energy production, the Ontario Government has announced a new $40 million Grid IQ™ Innovation Center, the first center of its kind for GE in Canada, to be located in Markham, Ontario. Grid IQ is GE's companywide commitment to solving customers' toughest challenges with more efficient, reliable and sustainable energy solutions. The 200,000 square foot center will develop and manufacture grid modernization technologies and will encompass a global testing and simulation laboratory. The building is expected to open in July 2012.

The Ontario Clean Technology Alliance offers excellent growth opportunities to clean technology companies, a low-risk business environment, and generous R&D tax credits that are the envy of other G-8 countries. Ontario economic incentives along with Canadian federal tax credits can cut the after-tax cost of every $100 spent in R&D to as low as $36.72. There are over 2,800 environmental industry companies in Ontario, generating approximately $7 billion in revenue and employing 65,000 people.

About the Ontario Clean Technology Alliance
Promoting increasing trade and investment in Ontario's clean technology sector, the Ontario Clean Technology Alliance includes economic development organizations from Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa Region, City of Hamilton, Waterloo Region, Niagara Region, Windsor-Essex Region, City of London, Sarnia-Lambton, City of Guelph and the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. For more information, go to www.ontariocleantechalliance.com.