You will see the headline in tomorrow’s newspapers and on the CBC TV and Live at 5 on ATV tonight, TransAlta awarded 25-year power purchase agreement with New Brunswick Power, expands renewable energy portfolio ; but the big story is that this honey of a project is going deep into Albert County.

Anyone who has ever looked out over Grindstone Island, or hung on for dear life trying to walk the Rock’s on a windy day can atest to the constant breezes coming in at almost gale force strength from the Shepody Bay extension of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Petitcodiac and Memramcook Rivers.

Kent Hills, Albert County is the site of this new wind farm announcement and for the less enabled of you Albert County explorers, it is the giant hill and ridgeline that you see to you right as you drive towards Albert-Riverside just after the Rocks as you travel south on Rt 114. That ridge travels along all the way to Alma as it weaves in and out from the Albert County foothills, which has for some time offered up everything from previous metals and gypsum.

100 years ago, history records that 10,000 men toiled in shipyards from Alma to Hall’s Creek building sailing ships to travel the wind around the World and now another wind based business development is returning to roots in Albert County.

It is ironic that the age of sail power, which defined the early properity of Albert County, allowing it to best Westmorland in the early sledding of the 20th century and before, is once again being fueled as an economic engine in the 21 th century, by harvesting the energy in the relentless winds of that part of Albert County. Now, if we can add a tidal power project at the mouth of the highest tides in the World, well may be we can stop some of those expensive oil barrels from keeping us over a barrel in North America.

For the record, here is the press release regarding the Calgary based company that is partnering up to deliver the capital and technical expertise to bring wind based turbine power to New Brunswick. Not a decade too late, but hey whose complaining. At last we are in the green game with our game face on courtesy of NB Power.

CALGARY, ALBERTA–(CCNMatthews - Jan. 19, 2007) - TransAlta Corporation (TSX:TA) (NYSE:TAC) today announced it has been awarded a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement to provide 75-megawatts (MW) of wind power to New Brunswick Power Distribution and Customer Service Corporation. Aka NB Power, to us New Brunswickers.

Under the agreement, TransAlta will construct, own and operate a wind power facility in New Brunswick. Terms of the agreement are confidential.

The capital cost of the project is estimated to be $130 million. The project is subject to regulatory and environmental approvals and is expected to begin commercial operations by the end of 2008.

Natural Forces Technologies Inc., a local Atlantic Canada wind developer is TransAlta’s co-development partner in this project.

“Wind power is an integral part of our growth plan and we are pleased to be developing this project with New Brunswick Power and expanding our renewable energy portfolio,” said Steve Snyder, TransAlta’s President and CEO.

“We’ve been building wind farms in Western Canada for 10 years and see this as an opportunity to expand our wind power expertise into a market that has expressed a desire for clean, renewable energy. We’re pleased to have a long-term contract with a superb customer and energy supplier like New Brunswick Power.”

The single-site, 25-turbine wind farm will be located in the Kent Hills area of New Brunswick.

TransAlta expects construction to commence by early 2008. TransAlta will work with local firms for the construction and ongoing operation of the Kent Hills wind farm providing long-term economic benefits to the region.

Once complete, the Kent Hills wind farm will provide 220,000 megawatt hours per year, enough electricity to meet the needs of approximately 13,600 homes. The facility will use 3.0 MW wind turbines purchased from Vestas-Canada Wind Technology Inc. for wind power turbines. With the addition of Kent Hills, TransAlta will operate approximately 260 MW of wind generated power in Canada.

The Canadian Wind Energy Association expects the Canadian wind power market, currently at 1,340 MW, to grow to 10,000 MW by 2015.

Since its acquisition of Vision Quest Windelectric in 2002, TransAlta has tripled its wind business.TransAlta is a power generation and wholesale marketing company focused on creating long-term shareholder value. We maintain a low-risk profile by operating a highly contracted portfolio of assets in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Australia.

Our focus is to efficiently operate our coal-fired, gas-fired, hydro and renewable facilities in order to provide our customers with a reliable, low-cost source of power. For nearly 100 years, we’ve been a responsible operator and a proud contributor to the communities where we work and live.

Everyone should take a moment and send an email of congratulations to NB Power for finanlly getting in the Green Energy Game. It is not a miracle cure by any means and it will only offset enough energy for the Village of Hillsborough on a cold January day, with maybe Shenstone and Weldon thrown in; but the iconic leadership symbol is all the message. There will be more announcements and this represents stranding alot of capital and no real job components in Albert County, but the price of progressive change and new innovation is widespread adoption.

A wind farm in Albert County on the Shepeody Bay is a real step in the right direction.

Yipee, this is one for the good guys. My distant and occassional relative MLA and former Cabinent Minister is the previous government may or may not have had a hand in it, or even known about it because this would have been conducted outside of politics, but despite the political opportunism that could have derailed this project, we got a great symbol of the changing energy world we live in established in the least productive and growth retarded County of the Province, excluding Riverview as a separate community of Greater Moncton.

This is huge. Coming next is the growing recognition that deep within my Alma Mater of Albert County where I learned to race cars on dirt roads and duck religion fundamentalists shooting their barely legal moose and deer quotas, is the emergence of singificant natural gas finds and eventually a deep trough of oil sands embeeded with oil production sludge that would make the tar sands molasses look like warm maple syrup.

We be in the energy business, again. Watch for more to come.

It’s a big day in Hillsborought and Riverside-Albert as well as Shepody.

Yayadada - corporate compliance

This news release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the business and anticipated financial performance of TransAlta Corporation. 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 legislative or regulatory developments, competition, global capital markets activity, changes in prevailing interest rates, currency exchange rates, inflation levels and general economic conditions in geographic areas where TransAlta Corporation operates.Note: All financial figures are in Canadian dollars unless noted otherwise.
Sphere It