NB 1303
Oct. 11, 2007
KENT HILLS (CNB) - Energy Minister Jack Keir and representatives from TransAlta Corporation marked the construction of a 96-megawatt wind farm here today with a sod-turning ceremony.
The project, at a capital cost of $170 million, marks a significant step forward in New Brunswick's renewable energy program.
"This is a great day for our province, and we wish great success to TransAlta, which has a top-notch record of building and operating wind farms in Canada," Keir said. "For New Brunswickers, this represents a more diverse generation mix for our province, which lessens our dependence on volatile fuel markets worldwide to run some of our generating plants."
TransAlta signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with NB Power earlier this year.
This single 96 megawatt (MW) wind farm represents two phases of the Kent Hills project: the original 75 MW phase, plus a further 21 MW contract with NB Power acquired from Vector Wind.
The Kent Hills facility will have 32 wind turbines, which will provide 280,000 megawatt hours of power per year - roughly enough to meet the electricity needs of 17,300 homes.
TransAlta President and CEO Steve Snyder said he was pleased that TransAlta is going to be able to provide such a significant amount of clean power to New Brunswick. "We are very pleased to have New Brunswick Power as a customer," he said.
The construction of the site will take about one year, and the electricity production is anticipated to begin in late 2008. The Province's goal is to increase the production of electricity from renewables by 10 per cent by 2016.
The current amount of electricity consumed in the province which comes from renewable sources is about 23 per cent.
07/10/11
MEDIA CONTACTS: Marc Belliveau, Department of Energy, 506-444-5912; Michael Lawrence, TransAlta, 403-267-7330.
07/10/11
