SAULT ST. MARIE, ON, Nov. 22 /CNW/ - Ontario is now Canada's leading
wind power generator thanks in part to the opening today of the Prince
wind farm on the shores of Lake Superior, northwest of Sault Ste. Marie,
Energy Minister Dwight Duncan announced.
"Over the past three years, our government has worked to make Ontario
the leading producer of renewable windpower in Canada," Duncan said. "By
2008 we will have increased the amount of wind energy in the province up
to 1300 megawatts. This is an 85-fold increase since 2003 and it has
brought an estimated $2.5 billion in new investment to Ontario."
The 189-megawatt two-phase $400 million Prince wind farm project is
the fourth new wind farm to open in Ontario in the last nine months. The
project's 126 turbines will generate enough electricity to power over
40,000 homes. Ontario now has 413 megawatts of wind power generation,
compared with 384 megawatts in Alberta.
"Today's opening of the nearly $400 million Prince Wind Farm, through
our renewable energy strategy, demonstrates the co- operation our
government achieved with Brookfield Power to increase Ontario's energy
supply," said David Orazietti, Sault Ste. Marie, MPP. "Energy projects
such as this and the recently announced co- generation facility at
Algoma Steel not only allow companies to benefit from their investments,
but have very positive environmental impacts through a reduction of
greenhouse gases."
"The completion of the Prince wind farm represents a major
achievement for Brookfield Power," said Harry Goldgut, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer, Brookfield Power. "In a little over a year we
have constructed Canada's largest wind farm. It's a tribute to the
members of the local community, our employees and construction partners
and everyone else who supported this development, in particular the
Ontario Government."
"We congratulate the Ontario Government for the actions it has taken
to facilitate the installation of almost 400 MW of wind energy this year
- all of Canada installed only 240 MW of wind energy in 2005," said
Robert Hornung, President of the Canadian Wind Energy Association.
"Ontario now has more installed wind energy capacity than any other
province in Canada."
Brookfield Powers' Prince wind farm is the fourth new wind project to
open in Ontario. In April the 99-megawatt Erie Shores wind project near
Port Burwell and the 40-megawatt Kingsbridge I wind project near
Goderich began commercial operations. The 67- megawatt Melancthon wind
project near Shelburne began operating in March.
To date the province has supported 18 new, renewable energy
contracts. Combined, these projects will help Ontario reach its goal of
generating five per cent of its electricity capacity through renewable
generation by 2007, and ten per cent by 2010.
Disponible en francais.
www.energy.gov.on.ca
Backgrounder
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Prince Wind Farm Opening
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The 189-megawatt Prince Wind Farm - the largest wind installation in
Canada - is now generating electricity to Ontario's grid. The 126
turbine, $400 million project will generate enough electricity for up to
40,000 homes.
Located in the Townships of Prince, Dennis and Pennefather, northwest
of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Prince was the result of 2 winning
proposals in the government's renewable energy Request for Proposals
(RFP) in 2004 and 2005. The first proposal was for the 99 mega-watt
Prince I and the second proposal was the 90 mega-watt Prince II.
The developer of the project is Brookfield Power, which has developed
and operated power-generating facilities for almost 100 years.
Government of Ontario's Progress on Renewable Wind Energy
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The Prince wind farm is Ontario's fourth new wind farm to open in the
last nine months. Erie Shores Wind Farm (99 megawatts) opened on April
13, 2006, Kingsbridge I Wind Project (40 megawatts) opened on April 6,
2006 and Melancthon Grey Wind Project (67.5 megawatts) became
commercially operational on March 4, 2006.
By the end of 2008, Ontario will generate up to 1,300 megawatts of
wind power, an 80-fold increase over 2003. This will make Ontario
Canada's leader in wind generation.
The McGuinty government has set a target of generating five per cent
of Ontario's total installed energy capacity from new renewable sources
by 2007, and 10 per cent by 2010.
Through its renewable RFP process the government has supported 18
contracts for a total of over 1,300 megawatts of clean renewable energy
from wind, water, landfill gas and biogas projects.