A new player in the Canadian energy market plans to expand green power sources in northern Ontario with eight hydro dams. FirstLight Power, a U.S.-based company, has entered into an "integration" with H2O Power, a Canadian company that owns the dams. The two companies are both owned by the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, a Canadian Crown corporation.

The eight hydroelectric dams were formerly owned by Abitibi paper mills and have been upgraded by H2O Power over the past decade with more than $100 million in investments. FirstLight Power's chief operating officer Justin Trudell said the company wants to use its cross-border resources to improve the energy system and reduce carbon emissions.

"We'll be looking to use our team to identify opportunities to either expand our assets where it makes sense or to enter into some new development opportunities in the province," he said.

Those opportunities could include increasing the capacity of the existing dams, building new ones or installing solar panels or battery storage units on the properties. Trudell said the company is open to a mix of technologies to meet Ontario's goal of decarbonizing the energy sector by 2050.

Ontario Power Generation has estimated that northern Ontario could produce an additional 3,000 to 4,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power to meet growing demand. Trudell said private enterprise will play a greater role in enhancing Ontario's electrical grid.

Source: cbc.ca