IESO 2024 Capacity Auction
December 9, 2024
IESO’s 2024 Capacity Auction saw the highest level of competition ever, announcing that 2,122.2 megawatts (MW) of supply for summer 2025 and 1,524.6 MW for winter 2025-2026 were procured at a lower clearing price than last year’s auction.
The capacity secured in 2024 will help to ensure reliability through summer 2025 and winter 2025-26 obligation periods, with clearing prices of $332.39/MW-day and $139.00/MW-day, respectively. Compared with the 2023 auction, the IESO secured about 15 per cent more megawatts at prices that were lower by 11 per cent (summer) and six per cent (winter). This year saw significant growth in participation with eight new organizations participating in the auction, while dispatchable load resources saw a 47 per cent increase in cleared capacity compared with last year’s auction, the largest increase seen among eligible Capacity Auction resource types.
These results demonstrate the benefits of robust competition among a large pool of participants, including continued interest from new participants, and the IESO’s stakeholder engagement efforts to continuously enhance auction features and participation requirements.
With electricity demand increasing – coupled with tighter supply conditions due to nuclear refurbishments and the scheduled retirement of the “A” units at Pickering Nuclear Generating Station by the end of 2024 – this annual auction is critical in helping support reliability in Ontario’s system as grid conditions change from season to season. While Capacity Auction resources are rarely called on, they help provide assurance that additional resources are available if needed during extreme conditions.
For clearing prices and other details, please see the post-auction report, which will require the use of the Microsoft Edge web browser.
