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at all different times and places, this is a program launched with a shot and as a result many of the developers are going through the same issues at the same time,��� says Williamson. Availability of construction companies that have the skill and teams to build solar facilities is also limited. ���Construction services for solar installations is a bit of a sellers��� market right now so developing those relationships is a big chunk of the development risks,��� he says. And should you decide to get out of the project before it���s actually generating power, that could be a tricky process too. ���If you���re trying to sell a project or sell a company that holds a project in advance of that project being in operation, there are significant restrictions on your ability to do so,��� says Williamson. result the FIT pricing was set on 2008 values and those contracts became very profitable because cost of materials was lower than anticipated. ���I���ve already seen these immensely profitable contracts not reach commercial operation because people didn���t have the money and they said they did and now we���re starting to see litigation,��� says Timmins. Finally, future demand should be another significant consideration. ���We���re using a lot less electricity than we were even in 2008 and have a huge amount of surplus power,��� says Vellone. ���Sometimes it���s selling it at a loss to the U.S. To manage this issue the system operator is looking at variable resources like solar and wind and actually requiring them to turn on and off depending on system need. That���s a relatively new amendment.��� Financing Although renewable energy projects have been in development in Ontario for a couple of decades, the number and dollar amount of these projects is dramatically larger than anyone might have anticipated four years ago. In all of these projects almost all of the capital needed to build them is invested before the first dollar of revenue is generated. The financial partners, whether equity investors or debt providers, need to be very comfortable that over the 20 or so years of the contracts the intended revenue is going to be generated so risk is minimized. ���Is there an appetite to finance these projects? We have found there is a market of lenders interested but they are not the traditional Canadian banks. The life insurance companies and the pension funds or foreign banks are interested,��� says Vellone. Timmins says the traditional banks have stayed away but the investment banks and pension funds like the large projects and can provide a bespoke due diligence approach. However, smaller $1-million to $2-million rooftop developments have been harder to finance and some people just weren���t able to get funding, even though they had a contract. When FIT 1.0 was launched in 2009, solar panel prices plummeted and as a ENHANCE YOUR EXPERTISE ��� AND YOUR VALUE ��� WITH A PROFESSIONAL LLM FROM OSGOODE. Put the focus on what interests you most. With leading academics, top practitioners and senior judges among our internationally renowned faculty, our programs offer you the unparalleled flexibility to study with a network of your peers while practising full time. Customize your studies to suit your needs, either onsite at our convenient downtown Toronto facility, or via videoconference from anywhere around the world. NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2013/2014 STARTS IN 14 OF 17 SPECIALIZATIONS: > Administrative Law > Alternative Dispute Resolution > Banking and Financial Services Law > Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law > Business Law > Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution > Constitutional Law > Criminal Law and Procedure > Energy and Infrastructure Law > Family Law > General LLM > Intellectual Property Law > Real Property Law > Tax Law Professional legal education the way it was meant to be. To learn more or to register for an Information Session, visit www.osgoodepd.ca today. A WORLD LEADER IN LAW SCHOOL LIFELONG LEARNING www.CANADIAN ntitled-1 1 reflecting on your specialty reflects well on you L a w ye r m a g . c o m March 2013 45 13-02-11 2:26 PM

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