Area Development
According to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, a C$7 billion green energy investment by a consortium led by South Korea's Samsung C&T Corp will make the Canadian province a leader in renewable energy technology.
 
The project to build four wind and solar power clusters in Ontario, Canada's most populous province, will have a combined power-generating capacity of 2.5 gigawatts by 2016. That's equivalent to 4 percent of Ontario's total electricity consumption. It will include wind turbines that will generate up to 2,000 megawatts, as well as solar power facilities that will generate up to 500 megawatts.
 
The province's Green Energy Act says Ontario must shut down all of its coal-fired power plants by 2014 and increase its ratio of renewable power generation; Premier McGuinty said the project would help meet those goals. He also said that on top of the 16,000 jobs the project is expected to create over next six years (4,000 will be permanent jobs), it would position Ontario as a leader in green technology manufacturing.