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SOP: Who can apply

What's required to be eligible

To be eligible to apply for the Standing Offer Program, the developer and the project must meet a number of requirements. Detailed eligibility requirements can be found in Section 2 of the program rules [PDF, 1.8 MB].

Main requirements include:

  • Clean or renewable: The energy must be clean or renewable as defined in the Clean Energy Act
  • Located in B.C., and outside Protected Areas: Projects must be located in B.C., which includes Canadian and B.C. territorial waters. Projects must not be located in a Protected Area as defined in the Clean Energy Act
  • Over 100 KW up to 15 MW in size: The project must be over 100 kilowatts up to and including 15 megawatts
  • New generators: Generation technology must meet the requirements to be considered either commercial operation generation technology or completed prototype generation technology
  • BC Hydro customer projects (self-generation): Projects located behind a BC Hydro Customer Load are eligible to apply under the SOP; however BC Hydro will only purchase energy on a net-of-load basis
  • Customers of B.C. Public Utilities Other than BC Hydro: Customers taking electrical service from a public utility other than BC Hydro are not eligible to apply under the SOP, with the exception of customers that take only back-up or start-up electricity service from that public utility
  • BC Hydro incentives and other Electricity Purchase Agreements: Conditions and restrictions apply to projects that have previous, current or future Electricity Purchase Agreements (EPAs) with BC Hydro, and developers receiving BC Hydro incentives
  • Target Commercial Operation Date (COD): The project's target COD must be in a year with sufficient room available for the project’s annual energy volume in BC Hydro's energy volume target, and be within three years of signing the Project EPA
  • Permits must be in place: The developer must have obtained all material permits required for the project, demonstrate site control, and the site must be zoned appropriately if local government land-use requirements apply
  • First Nations consultation: BC Hydro will be assessing the adequacy of First Nations consultation for any proposed project prior to offering an EPA

Please refer to the Standing Offer Program Rules and Application Form for additional eligibility requirements and details.