TransAlta Achieves Commercial Operation of 200 MW Horizon Hill Wind Facility, increasing its United States Renewables Fleet to over 1 GW
22 May 2024 - 6:22AM
TransAlta Corporation (“TransAlta” or the “Company”) (TSX: TA)
(NYSE: TAC) announced today that the 200 MW Horizon Hill Wind
Project ("Horizon Hill"), located in Logan County, Oklahoma, has
achieved commercial operation. The facility is fully contracted to
Meta Platforms Inc. ("Meta"), which is receiving both clean
electricity and environmental attributes from the new facility.
“Since 2020, Meta has supported its global
operations with 100 per cent wind and solar energy. As our
footprint grows, it’s key that we find strong partners who can help
us continue to meet that goal by bringing new renewable energy to
the grid,” said Urvi Parekh, head of renewable energy at Meta. “We
are excited to partner with TransAlta to help power our operations
with clean electricity.”
“We are pleased to bring our 30th wind facility,
Horizon Hill, into service. The completion of the facility also
concludes the significant construction program we started in 2021
through which we have added 800 MW of contracted renewable
electricity to our portfolio. With the completion of Horizon Hill,
over 60 per cent of our fleet is now contracted on a megawatt
basis," said Mr. John Kousinioris, President and Chief Executive
Officer of TransAlta. "Horizon Hill also brings our US renewables
fleet to over one GW, another key milestone for TransAlta, and
provides a clean energy solution to a leading corporate energy
customer.”
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 production tax credits
("PTCs") to be generated from Horizon Hill. The remaining PTCs are
expected to be sold through spot transactions or contracted at a
later date.
Horizon Hill Highlights
• Long-term contracted revenues with Meta who
will receive 100 per cent of both renewable electricity and
environmental attributes;
• Facility includes 34 Vestas V162 and V136
turbines, of which 33 have 119-metre towers and one has a 105-metre
tower;
• 10-year transfer agreement for approximately
80 per cent of PTCs, which are subject to an annual inflation
adjustment factor, with an AA- rated third-party customer, with
opportunity to contract the remaining 20 per cent;
• Extends TransAlta's weighted-average contract
life of its renewables portfolio1 to over 12 years; and
• Estimated average annual adjusted EBITDA range
between US$31 and US$33 million, including third-party sales of
PTCs.
(1) The weighted-average remaining 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 Horizon Hill facility
(defined above); expected generation of PTCs (defined above) to be
sold through spot transactions or contracted to customers; and the
estimated average annual adjusted EBITDA range for the Horizon Hill
facility. 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 power prices; supply chain disruptions
impacting major maintenance projects; cybersecurity breaches; the
settlement price of the PPA being greater than the nodal price
received in the market; congestion and curtailment risks and the
potential for negative priced hours; 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, including as it pertains to PTCs); 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
TransAlta’s most recent 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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