UPDATE: Ontario Renewable Laws Attract Two Big Wind Projects
29 September 2009 - 2:05AM
Dow Jones News
New price supports for the renewable-energy industry enacted
last week by Canada's Ontario province appear to be gaining
immediate results, with two large new projects in the works.
Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. (KHD.T) said Monday it signed an
agreement to acquire an offshore wind project in the Great Lakes
bordering Ontario, and the government of Ontario said it is in
advanced talks with South Korean conglomerate Samsung C&T Corp.
(SSGFY) to create another large wind project in the province.
The "feed-in tariff" law enacted last week as part of Ontario's
Green Energy Act offers renewable-energy producers a fixed price
well above market rates for the electricity they produce.
Calgary-based Canadian Hydro Developers said an offshore project
it acquired from Wasatch Wind Inc., a private company based in
Utah, could eventually become the largest in the world, Canadian
Hydro said, with rights to build up to 4,400 megawatts of
generation capacity that could power more than two million homes.
The first 400 to 500 megawatts are scheduled to come online during
the fourth quarter of 2014.
Energy produced by the project is eligible under the new feed-in
tariff rules for a price up $190 per megawatt/hour, plus increases
indexed to the inflation rate, over a 20-year period, the company
said.
The company didn't indicate exactly where the project is
located, other than that it's about "five to 30 kilometers offshore
in one of the Great Lakes bordering Ontario." A Canadian Hydro
spokeswoman couldn't be immediately reached for further
details.
Canadian Hydro is the target of a hostile takeover bid of C$4.55
a share from TransAlta Corp (TA).
Shares of Canadian Hydro declined 1% in recent trading on the
Toronto Stock Exchange to C$5.10.
Meanwhile, Samsung C&T Corp. is in "serious discussions" to
build a large renewable-energy project in the province, Ontario's
Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure said in a release late
Sunday.
Citing tribal leaders in the area of the potential project, The
Canadian Press reported that the Samsung's plans involve the
construction of 200 wind turbines on the north shore of Lake Erie
and that Samsung plans to construct test towers this fall to
measure the area's potential for energy generation.
Representatives of Samsung and the ministry couldn't be
immediately reached for comment.
-By Edward Welsch, Dow Jones Newswires; 613-237-0669;
edward.welsch@dowjones.com