TORONTO − Ontario plans 10 new energy projects that could supply power to 100,000 homes from renewable sources like wind, hydro and landfill biogas, the provincial government said Wednesday.

The five wind farms, two hydro plants, and three landfill gas and biogas facilities would cost nearly C$700 million ($600 million) and have the capacity to generate 395 megawatts of electricity, officials said.

"The projects will...reduce our dependence on dirty coal-fired plants, and enhance air quality throughout the province," provincial Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said in a statement.

Some 90 percent of planned electricity output from the new projects, or 355 megawatts, will come from wind power, and all the facilities will be operational by 2007, the government said.

Ontario, Canada's most populous province, aims to ensure that 5 percent of its electricity comes from renewable sources by 2007, rising to 10 percent by 2010. The 2007 target is for 1,350 megawatts of renewable energy generating capacity.

Canada's current wind power capacity is 372 megawatts, with several wind turbine farms located in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec.

But last month, Hydro-Quebec awarded C$1.9 billion in wind-power projects that would generate 990 megawatts of electricity in the wind-swept Gaspe peninsula in the Gulf of St Lawrence. ($1-$1.18 Canadian.)

Source: Reuters