Independent power producers in British Columbia on Friday lauded a $1.5-billon renewable-energy initiative announced in Victoria by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The program offers long-term incentives for new green power projects, up to a total of 4,000 megawatts of new power coming from a wide array of sources including wind, biomass, small hydro and ocean energy.

That's an amount of power roughly equivalent to one-third of the total generating capacity of British Columbia's sprawling network of hydroelectric dams and reservoirs.

The program is comparable to a series of announcements made by the former Liberal government, but shelved when the Conservatives took power.

The Tories are calling their plan, which commences April 1, the ecoEnergy Renewable Initiative.

As a replacement for coal or natural gas-fired generation projects, it would deliver greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking one million cars off the road over the lifetime of the green generating facilities.

"There is no end to the potential of alternative, non-polluting energy sources," Harper said in a statement. He added that the initiative "will harness the power of our environment to help protect the environment for all Canadians."

Funds would be disbursed over a 10-year period for eligible projects built over the next four years.

Steve Davis, president of the Independent Power Producers Association of BC, said the incentives are "opportune" for project developers in B.C.

BC Hydro announced in August it had selected 38 projects with a total value of $3.6 billion to join the provincial electricity grid -- and is in the midst of developing another open call for power later this year.

Davis noted that many details of the program will be determined later in consultation with power producers -- including the manner in which the incentives will be allocated among provinces and project types.

But he added that the incentive would be valuable to B.C.'s independent sector -- particularly where green power producers find themselves with higher base-level costs than proponents of coal or gas-fired generation.

The incentive works out to a payback of one cent per kilowatt, or $10 per megawatt, for participants.

Hydro is currently paying an average 7.5 cents per kilowatt, or $75 per megawatt for new independent power projects joining its grid.

"On general pricing levels in British Columbia in the order of $75 a megawatt hour, a $10 lift is material. It will help them be ranked better when BC Hydro issues the next call," Davis said. "Each of these projects generates a significant amount of revenue for the provincial treasury. If it's small hydro, they pay a significant amount in water rentals each year.

"They have yet to define the edges of the definition, but they have clearly said wind, solar, geothermal and I'm confident the small-hydro sector would be in that."

Harvie Campbell, executive vice-president of Pristine Power, said the Tories' program was distinct from the Liberals' approach because it gives equal weight to all renewable technologies -- and indicated that the former government's program was weighted in favor of wind power.

"What's distinctive about the program is that it supports renewables no matter what kind of technology they are," Campbell said in an interview from Pristine's head office in Calgary.

The company has three projects in the works in B.C., including a biomass-fueled generating facility at Mackenzie in northern B.C.

"Wind doesn't yield any different benefits than for example small hydro -- and that's what's important to B.C.," Campbell said.

"B.C. is unlike the rest of the country in that there is incredible small hydro potential and it's every bit as environmentally friendly a power source as wind.

"By balancing out and saying 'We are not going to be technology-specific, what we want is renewable power, they are letting the developer choose what is the best technology to deliver that with."

Campbell said he expects a rapid takeup of the offer because sustainable power projects are getting bigger and bigger.

"It's a nice large first step but people are starting in other provinces to take 300, 600, 1,000 megawatt-type projects for this type of electricity so it will get eaten up very quickly."

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© The Vancouver Sun 2007