GE Technology to Power New Wind Energy Project in Ontario
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, October 21, 2005: -- Brascan Power has selected GE Energy as the turbine supplier for the proposed Prince Wind Farm that could add up to 99 megawatts of wind power capacity to the electricity grid in the province of Ontario, Canada.
The project, which will utilize 66 of GE's 1.5-megawatt wind turbine-generators, is expected to enter commercial operation in the second half of 2006. GE will operate and maintain the turbines for five years.
GE Energy's 1.5-megawatt wind turbines are the largest assembled in North America and are among the world's most widely used megawatt-class wind turbines, with more than 3,300 now installed globally.
Located in the township of Prince approximately eight kilometers northwest of Sault Ste. Marie, the Prince Wind Farm will be one of the first large-scale wind farms to be built in Ontario. The project will further expand and diversify the power generation portfolio of Brascan Power, a company with almost 100 years of experience in Ontario's power industry.
The estimated annual generation for the Prince Wind Farm is expected to provide enough electricity to serve close to 20,000 Ontario households. The power will be supplied under a power purchase agreement with the government of Ontario.
According to Robert Hornung, president of the Canadian Wind Energy Association, "Over the next five years, federal and provincial government policies and targets are on track to facilitate a ten-fold increase in the size of Canada's wind energy industry." Currently, the country has 590 megawatts of installed wind energy capacity, enough to power more than 200,000 Canadian households.
"Canada, a country with tremendous wind power potential, is making great strides toward maximizing the environmental and economic benefits associated with this abundant, renewable energy resource," said Robert Gleitz, general manager of GE Energy's wind segment. "We are pleased that GE technology has been selected to support a number of wind projects in Canada."
In addition to the Prince Wind Farm, other major projects in Canada announced this year featuring GE technology include Erie Shores Wind
