Alberta announces $1.2B in new wind energy projects

The Government of Alberta says five new wind power projects with a combined value of $1.2 billion will proceed as a result of its Renewable Electricity Program.

Three of the wind projects are private-sector partnerships with First Nations, which include a minimum 25 per cent Indigenous equity component.

The province says that in total, the new developments will create about 1,000 jobs and generate about 760 megawatts of affordable renewable electricity – enough to power nearly 300,000 homes.

The weighted average price of 3.9 cents per kilowatt hour for the latest round of projects is just shy of the Canadian record-low price achieved by Alberta in 2017 and continues to be among the lowest in the country, including less than half the price of a recent procurement in Ontario, the province said in a statement on Monday.

The five projects are:

• TransAlta Corporation will build the 207-megawatt Windrise project, southwest of Fort MacLeod.
• EDF Renewables Canada Inc. will build the 202-megawatt Cypress Wind Power project near Medicine Hat in partnership with the Kainai First Nation.
• Capstone Infrastructure Corporation will build the 48-megawatt Buffalo Atlee wind farms near Brooks in partnership with the Sawridge First Nation.
• Potentia Renewables Inc. will build the 113-megawatt Stirling Wind project near Lethbridge in partnership with the Paul First Nation, as well as Greengate Power Corporation.
• Potentia Renewables Inc. will build two phases of the Jenner Wind Project near Brooks, for a total of 193 megawatts

The Renewable Electricity Program reinvests revenues from Alberta’s carbon pricing.