Atco Ltd - Cory Cogeneration Station Construction Officially Underway

Gateway To North America's Electrical Industry -

Toronto, ON -- Construction of the 228 MW Cory Cogeneration Station serving the increasing power needs of Saskatchewan was officially launched with a dedication ceremony attended by community, government and corporate leaders Wednesday.

The environmentally progressive $227 million project is a joint venture that combines the leading skills of ATCO Power of Alberta and SaskPower International.

With the sound of equipment working in the background, project leaders announced they are on schedule to have the cogeneration station producing full power by November 2002.

SaskPower will purchase the electricity generated by the power station to meet Saskatchewan's future energy needs, while the thermal energy will be sold to the Cory mine site for their use.

"This 'made-in-Saskatchewan' supply solution has tremendous economic spin-offs," Crown Investments Corporation Minister Maynard Sonntag said at to-day's site dedication ceremony in Saskatoon. "It will create 220 person-years of construction employment, with the first four construction tenders having been won by Saskatchewan companies."

"ATCO Power is a leader in the construction of efficient environmentally progressive cogeneration facilities and the Cory power station will deliver new electricity to meet the growing energy needs of Saskatchewan," Ron Southern, Co-Chairman & CEO, ATCO Group said. "The direct economic impact for Saskatoon and Saskatchewan communities will be felt immediately and the indirect benefits will go on for many, many years."

Sonntag added, "The project is well on its way to providing an additional, safe, reliable electrical supply at a competitive price. It also demonstrates our commitment to growing SaskPower's business and moving towards environmentally friendly fuel sources, which will have a long-term benefit to Saskatchewan people."

Cogeneration is the simultaneous production of electricity and steam from a single fuel source using combustion gas turbines, heat recovery steam generators and steam turbine technology.

SaskPower International is a wholly owned subsidiary and the development arm of SaskPower. SaskPower has an installed capacity of over 3,000 MW and maintains more than 150,000 kilometres of power lines. The corporation operates three coal-fired generating stations, seven hydro stations and four natural gas stations.

ATCO Power is a world leader in the development of environmentally progressive electricity generation facilities. It has built, owns and operates power plants in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. It has built eight new projects worldwide since 1993, with a total capacity of 2,000 MW and has four more projects under construction in Alberta. ATCO Power also operates three coal-fired generating stations in Alberta with a capacity of over 1,600 MW.