TransAlta Achieves Commercial Operation of 300 MW White Rock Project and Increases its US Renewables Fleet to 820 MW
24 April 2024 - 9:00PM
TransAlta Corporation (“TransAlta” or the “Company”) (TSX: TA)
(NYSE: TAC) announced today that the combined 300 MW White Rock
East and White Rock West wind facilities (“White Rock”), located in
Caddo County, Oklahoma, have achieved commercial operation. The
White Rock wind facilities are fully contracted to Amazon Energy
LLC (“Amazon”) and are currently supplying clean and affordable
electricity to our customer. TransAlta’s portfolio in the US now
totals 820 MW in net operating renewable energy capacity.
“We are pleased to bring into service our first
clean electricity project in Oklahoma, White Rock, which is our
largest wind project completed to date. White Rock was made
possible through our long-term customer relationship with Amazon
and its commitment to power its operations with 100 per cent
renewable energy. Amazon is a global leader in procurement of
renewable energy to achieve sustainability and carbon reduction
objectives, and we are excited to be a trusted supplier to provide
clean and affordable electricity as part of Amazon’s
decarbonization pledge,” said Mr. John Kousinioris, President and
Chief Executive Officer of TransAlta.
“In addition, we are also pleased to announce
our first long-term contract to supply production tax credits
(“PTCs”) to a taxable counterparty in the US. We have secured
favourable pricing on approximately 80% of the expected generation
of PTCs, which will provide another stream of contracted revenue
that secures long-term cash flows from White Rock and further
diversifies the contracted cash flows from our renewable portfolio.
We look forward to operating this facility and delivering on our
commitments to our customers. As I look ahead, we are nearing
completion of our other Oklahoma wind project which will add
another 200 MW facility, increasing our US portfolio to more than 1
GW, another key milestone for our company,” added Mr.
Kousinioris.
White Rock comprises a total of 51 Vestas wind
turbines and is the first of the Company’s two wind projects in
Oklahoma to achieve commercial operations. On Feb. 22, 2024, the
Company entered into a 10-year transfer agreement with an AA- rated
customer for the sale of approximately 80 per cent of the expected
PTCs to be generated from the White Rock wind facilities. The
remaining PTCs are expected to be sold through spot transactions or
contracted at a later date.
White Rock Project Highlights
- Long-term contracted revenues from Amazon; an investment-grade
customer;
- 10-year transfer agreement of PTCs, which are subject to an
annual inflation adjustment factor, with an AA- rated third-party
customer;
- 49 Vestas V162 6.0 MW and 2 Vestas V136 3.45 MW turbines that
are 119 metres and 105 metres in height with total rotor diameters
of 162 metres and 136 metres, respectively;
- Estimated average annual adjusted EBITDA range between US$53
and US$57 million, including third-party sales of PTCs; and
- TransAlta weighted-average contract life of renewables
portfolio1 increased to 12 years.
(1) The weighted-average remaining renewables
portfolio contract life does not include our merchant renewables
assets. For power generated under long-term power purchase
agreements ("PPAs") and other long-term contracts, the
weighted-average remaining contract life is based on long-term
average gross installed capacity.
About TransAlta Corporation:
TransAlta owns, operates and develops a diverse
fleet of electrical power generation assets in Canada, the United
States and Australia with a focus on long-term shareholder value.
TransAlta provides municipalities, medium and large industries,
businesses and utility customers with clean, affordable, energy
efficient and reliable power. Today, TransAlta is one of Canada’s
largest producers of wind power and Alberta’s largest producer of
hydro-electric power. For over 112 years, TransAlta has been a
responsible operator and a proud member of the communities where we
operate and where our employees work and live. TransAlta aligns its
corporate goals with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the
Future-Fit Business Benchmark, which also defines sustainable goals
for businesses. Our reporting on climate change management has been
guided by the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) S2
Climate-related Disclosures Standard and the Task Force on
Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.
TransAlta has achieved a 66 per cent reduction in GHG emissions or
21.3 million tonnes CO2e since 2015 and received an upgraded MSCI
ESG rating of AA.
For more information about TransAlta, visit our
web site at transalta.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding
Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains “forward-looking
information”, within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities
laws, and “forward-looking statements”, within the meaning of
applicable United States securities laws, including the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
(collectively referred to herein as “forward-looking statements).
In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by
terminology such as “plans”, “expects”, “proposed”, “will”,
“anticipates”, “develop”, “continue”, and similar expressions
suggesting future events or future performance. In particular, this
news release contains, without limitation, statements pertaining to
the anticipated benefits arising from the White Rock facilities
(defined above); expected generation of PTCs (defined above) to be
sold through spot transactions or contracted to customers;
estimated average annual adjusted EBITDA range for the White Rock
facilities; expected completion date of the Corporation's other
Oklahoma wind project; and the expected total renewable generation
by the Corporation in the US. These forward-looking statements are
not historical facts but are based on TransAlta’s belief and
assumptions based on information available at the time the
assumptions were made, including, but not limited to the political
and regulatory environments; and the condition of the financial
markets not changing significantly. 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: changes in market power and gas prices; supply chain
disruptions impacting major maintenance and growth projects;
cybersecurity breaches; negative impacts to our credit ratings;
legislative or regulatory developments and their impacts;
increasingly stringent environmental requirements and their
impacts; increased competition; global capital markets activity
(including our ability to access financing at a reasonable cost or
at all); changes in prevailing interest rates, currency exchange
rates and inflation levels; armed hostilities; general economic
conditions in the geographic areas in which TransAlta operates; and
other risks and uncertainties discussed in the TransAlta’s
materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities from
time to time and as also set forth in the TransAlta’s MD&A and
Annual Information Form for the year ended Dec. 31, 2023. Readers
are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which reflect TransAlta’s expectations only as of the
date of this news release. The purpose of the financial outlooks
contained in this news release are to give the reader information
about management’s current expectations and plans and readers are
cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other
purposes and is given as of the date of this news release.
TransAlta disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise
these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by
law.
For more information:
Investor Inquiries: |
Media Inquiries: |
Phone: 1-800-387-3598 in Canada and US |
Phone: 1-855-255-9184 |
Email: investor_relations@transalta.com |
Email: ta_media_relations@transalta.com |
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