NEWS FILE PHOTO
The Medicine Hat Wind Farm Development as seen from the Box Springs Road in October 2015. A 200-MW wind farm to be built in two phases near Whitla in one of the successful project bids from the competitive first round of Alberta’s Renewable Electricity Program, announced Dec. 13.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com @CollinGallant
Southeastern Alberta will get a windfarm and Alberta is getting a record low price for wind energy as the results of a major green energy auction were announced on Wednesday.
The proposed Whitla Wind Farm, a project of Edmonton-based Capital power, won a 20-year supply contract for its near 200-megawatt facility planned for the area about 40 kilometres south of Medicine Hat.
There’s no official budget from the company, but it could account for one-third of an estimated $1 billion capital construction program on three plants announced Wednesday by industry officials and Premier Rachel Notley.
“We have a proven record of delivering on time and on budget,” Capital Power CEO Brian Vaasjo told a press conference in Calgary. “We’ll bring that experience to bear in Whitla for the benefit of the community and the province.”
The area, directly south of Winnifred, would see 58 turbines erected in phase one on land to the east of Forty Mile Reservoir.
The region has long been described as a world class opportunity for wind power development, but without long-term supply contracts to help secure long-term and favourable financing, many projects have been in a holding pattern for years.
Now Capital Power is one of three in southern Alberta that are poised to be in production by the end of 2019.
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Contracts were also awarded to EDP Renewables Canada Ltd., which will build a 248-megawatt wind farm at Sharp Hills, located about 50 kilometres north of Oyen. Enel Green Power North America, Inc., will build two projects, totally 146-megawatts of capacity near Pincher Creek.
In total they would provide a total of 600 megawatts to the provincial grid, enough to power 125,000 homes.
For the near region it represents, jobs and economic activity, said Environment Minister Shannon Phillips, an MLA from Lethbridge.
“We’re about to make a major step forward toward a greener Alberta,” she said.
This year, the province had budgeted to award only 400-megawatts worth this year to help spur investments, but upped the overall contract size when the price per kilowatt came in at less than half of forecasts.
Fetching an average supply price of 3.7-cent, the auction resulted in record low wind price in Canada. For comparison, the City of Medicine Hat sets its retail price at the default average across Alberta has a December power price of 3.9-cents.
“It’s about great jobs, about private sector investment and getting the best price,” said Notley, further stating that the 29 companies that submitted bids “jumped at the chance to invest in Alberta.”
Government officials estimated the contracts would lead to a combined $1 billion investment, 700 construction jobs over the next three years and $1 million in lease payments for rural landowners were the facilities are location.
The goal is to have 30 per cent of Alberta’s power requirements come from low-carbon sources by 2030. Bringing on the required 5,000-megawatts, could result in $10.5 billion in capital investment, state Alberta Energy officials.
Capital Power is a publicly listed company was created when former City of Edmonton utility provider Epcor spun off its generation plants in 2009.
Along with coal and gas plants, it already operates wind facilities in Halkirk, Alta., British, Kansas, and elsewhere in the United States.
