TransAlta's Wind Farm Powering Quebec Homes with Green Energy
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Mar 13, 2013) -
Editor''s Note: Two photos for this release will be available on the Canadian Press picture wire via Marketwire.
TransAlta Corporation (TA.TO) (TAC) announces completion of our New Richmond Wind Facility located in the wind-rich Gaspésie area of Québec. New Richmond was officially commissioned early this morning, when TransAlta''s turbines were energized to the Hydro-Québec grid.
New Richmond''s commissioning adds 68 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy to the province''s supply; enough to meet the needs of approximately 11,000 Québec homes every year. All of the power generated is under a 20-year contract with Hydro-Québec Distribution and supports local utility needs; ensuring citizens have access to reliable renewable electricity.
"The New Richmond wind farm was commissioned today and now provides additional renewable energy to our customer, Hydro-Québec," said Dawn Farrell, TransAlta''s president and chief executive officer. "We are grateful for the vision, cooperation and partnership of the local communities, contractors, officials, suppliers including our turbine supplier Enercon, and our customer for their contributions to this project."
During development and construction the New Richmond project generated over 250 jobs. Ongoing it will provide additional long-term local employment and economic benefits created through land leases, agreements made with the three municipalities involved and TransAlta''s contributions to the communities.
"Adding New Richmond to our company means we now supply 167MW of wind in the Québec market, and over 1,220MW of wind power to customers in Québec, New Brunswick, Ontario and Alberta," said Mrs. Farrell. "Renewable energy assets, wind, geothermal and hydro, now make up almost 25% of our portfolio; a significant achievement for the company over the past decade."
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TransAlta is a power generation and wholesale marketing company focused on creating long-term shareholder value. TransAlta maintains a low-to-moderate risk profile by operating a highly contracted portfolio of assets in Canada, the United States and Australia. TransAlta''s focus is to efficiently operate geothermal, wind, hydro, natural gas and coal facilities in order to provide customers with a reliable, low-cost source of power. For over 100 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator and a proud contributor to the communities in which it works and lives. TransAlta has been selected by Jantzi-Sustainalytics as one of Canada''s Top 50 Socially Responsible Companies since 2009 and is recognized globally for its leadership on sustainability and corporate responsibility standards by FTSE4Good. TransAlta is Canada''s largest investor-owned renewable energy provider.
This news release may contain forward looking statements, including statements regarding the business and anticipated financial performance of TransAlta Corporation. These statements are based on TransAlta Corporation''s belief and assumptions based on information available at the time the assumption was made. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that could cause such differences include legislative or regulatory developments and general economic conditions in geographic areas where TransAlta Corporation operates.
