CALGARY, ALBERTA--(CCNMatthews - Aug. 30, 2005) -
All figures are in Canadian dollars.
Suncor Energy Products Inc., EHN Wind Power Canada Inc. and Enbridge Inc. today announced they have received approval from the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) to build a 30-megawatt wind power project near Taber, Alberta.
Construction on the approximately $60-million Chin Chute Wind Power Project is expected to begin next month and the facility is due to be commissioned in late 2006. Construction timelines are subject to completion of an environmental review.
The facility, 20 kilometres southwest of Taber, will consist of 20 1.5-megawatt turbines. It is expected to generate enough clean electricity to power approximately 14,000 Alberta homes and displace the equivalent of at least 88,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. EHN, the renewable energy subsidiary of the Spanish ACCIONA Group, will operate the wind farm.
"We are very pleased to once again partner with Enbridge and EHN to deliver clean electricity for Albertans," said Dave Byler, Suncor's executive vice president, natural gas and renewable energy. "As Suncor embarks on our third wind power project we have demonstrated that wind power can be both environmentally responsible and economically viable."
"The Chin Chute project provides continuity on our execution plan for expanding our presence in Canada," said Alberto de Miguel, EHN's executive director of development.
"By investing in Chin Chute, our third wind power project, we are working to meet a growing North American electricity demand with renewable energy," said Stephen J.J. Letwin, Enbridge Group Vice President, Gas Strategy & Corporate Development. "We're pleased to be involved in another joint venture with Suncor and EHN to add to Canada's wind power supply."
The project partners have also applied for funding under the Canadian government's Wind Power Production Incentive, which supports wind power development in Canada.
Suncor, EHN and Enbridge are equal partners in the Chin Chute project. The three companies also own the 30-megawatt Magrath Wind Power Project in southern Alberta, which was commissioned in 2004 and is operated by EHN. Enbridge and Suncor also own the 11-megawatt SunBridge project near Gull Lake, Saskatchewan, which Enbridge operates.
Suncor Energy Products Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suncor Energy Inc. Suncor Energy Inc. is an integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Suncor's oil sands business, located near Fort McMurray, Alberta, extracts and upgrades oil sands and markets refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, while operations throughout western Canada produce natural gas. Suncor operates a refining and marketing business in Ontario with retail distribution under the Sunoco brand. U.S.A. downstream assets include pipeline and refining operations in Colorado and Wyoming and retail sales in the Denver area under the Phillips 66 brand. Suncor's common shares (symbol: SU) are listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. Sunoco in Canada is separate and unrelated to Sunoco in the United States, which is owned by Sunoco, Inc. of Philadelphia.
Enbridge Inc., a Canadian company, is a leader in energy transportation and distribution in North America and internationally. As a transporter of energy, Enbridge operates, in Canada and the U.S., the world's longest crude oil and liquids pipeline system. The Company also has international operations and a growing involvement in the natural gas transmission and midstream businesses. As a distributor of energy, Enbridge owns and operates Canada's largest natural gas distribution company, which provides distribution services in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec and in New York State; and is developing a gas distribution system for the Province of New Brunswick. The Company employs more than 4,000 people, primarily in Canada, the United States and South America. Enbridge common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada and on the New York Stock Exchange in the U.S. under the symbol ENB. Information about Enbridge is available on the Company's website at www.enbridge.com.
EHN Wind Power Canada Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Corporacion Energia Hidroelectrica de Navarra, S.A. (EHN), a company owned 100% by Acciona S.A., which is a group based in Spain dedicated to infrastructures and services aimed at sustainable development and social welfare. EHN, heading the Energy Division of ACCIONA, is a leader in the development, construction, operation and ownership of renewable energy projects. The group has installed 2,662 megawatts (MW) in renewables, of which 1,474 MW belong to the group. In the field of wind energy, it has built 90 wind farms in 7 countries, either for its own or for other companies (almost all of them managed and operated by the company), representing total installed wind capacity of 2,545 MW. Through its subsidiary INGETUR, it manufactures 1,500 KW wind turbines using in-house technology. It has 19 small hydro power plants, 3 biomass plants (one of them a 25 MW facility based on straw combustion) and the largest photovoltaic solar energy plant in Spain in terms of capacity (1.2 MW). It has put in operation a biodiesel plant that uses first-use vegetable oils.
For more information please contact:
Suncor Energy
Darcie Park
(403) 205-7959
or
Enbridge Inc.
Bruce Debaie
(403) 231-5768
or
EHN Wind Power Canada Inc.
Jose Arrieta
(585) 723-2110