Vestas will supply and commission seventy nine 1.8 MW wind turbines.
EDMONTON, ALBERTA – Capital Power Corporation (Capital Power or The Company) (TSX: CPX) has selected Vestas (NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen: VWS) for the supply and maintenance of 517 megawatts (MW) of wind turbines for Capital Power’s proposed wind power projects in Ontario and British Columbia.
Under a contract with Capital Power L.P., the legal entity that directly and indirectly holds Capital Power’s Ontario and British Columbia wind project assets, Vestas will supply and commission seventy nine 1.8 MW wind turbines (44 model V100 and 35 model V90) at Capital Power’s proposed 142 MW Quality Wind Project in British Columbia.
Turbine supply and maintenance agreements have also been signed for fifty eight 1.8 MW wind turbines (V90) for the 105 MW Port Dover and Nanticoke Wind Project in Ontario, and one hundred fifty 1.8 MW turbines (V90) for the proposed 270 MW Kingsbridge II project also located in Ontario. The agreements cover all scheduled and unscheduled maintenance for the towers and turbines for a period of 10 years following commissioning. Capital Power will be responsible for the installation of the turbines and towers.
The projects referred to above are expected to proceed upon provincial environmental and regulatory approvals, and in the case of Kingsbridge II, an award of a Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) power contract with the Ontario Power Authority (OPA). Should all three projects be developed, Vestas would deliver a total of 287 turbines to Capital Power. Vestas has advised that, as of December 31, 2009, it has supplied more than 950 turbines to companies for wind projects across Canada.
“These turbine agreements with Vestas represent a significant milestone as the majority of the capital costs for the projects are now fixed, providing cost certainty and capitalizing on economies of scale,” said Capital Power President and CEO, Brian Vaasjo. “As we advance our contracted generation portfolio, we are looking to build on the success that Capital Power and Vestas have had on the Kingsbridge I wind farm, which has twice been Ontario’s best performing wind farm.”
In March 2010, BC Hydro announced that Capital Power’s Quality Wind Project had been selected for the award of an Electricity Purchase Agreement (EPA). The EPA was signed in April 2010. The 142 MW wind power project will incorporate 79 wind turbines across the site, located in northeastern British Columbia. The project has an expected cost of $455 million and is in the advanced stages of the B.C. Environmental Assessment review process. Based on current timelines, the review process is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2010.
In April 2010, the OPA announced that Capital Power would be offered a contract through the OPA’s FIT program for the proposed Port Dover and Nanticoke Wind Project. The contract with the OPA has since been signed. The 105 MW project has an expected cost of up to $340 million, and is expected to enter commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2012. Under the FIT contract terms, a minimum of 50 percent of goods and services for the project must come from Ontario, contributing to local job creation and economic development.
Should Capital Power’s proposed Kingsbridge II project also be developed, Vestas will supply and maintain an additional 270 MW of wind turbines for that project. This proposed project has been submitted to the OPA’s FIT program and is on a list of projects that require additional transmission capacity.
Vestas has advised Capital Power that since 1979, it has supplied more than 40,500 wind turbines globally. The Company supplied its first wind turbine to North America in 1981 and has since supplied more than 11,000 turbines across the continent.
About Capital Power Corporation
Capital Power is a growth-oriented North American independent power producer, building on more than a century of innovation and reliable performance. The Company’s vision is to be recognized as one of North America’s most respected, reliable and competitive power generators. Headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, Capital Power has interests in 31 facilities in Canada and the U.S. totaling approximately 3,500 megawatts of generation capacity. Capital Power and its subsidiaries develop, acquire and optimize power generation from a wide range of energy sources.
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