CanadaÂ’s biggest CO2 emitter invests in wind power
The cost of the expansion is estimated at $123-million, the Calgary-based company said in a statement. Construction is scheduled to start next year and power generation in the first quarter of 2010.
A growing population and increased industrial demand, partly from rising tar-sands output in Alberta, are forecast to boost electricity demand 3% a year over the next two decades, according to the agency that oversees the province's power industry.
TransAlta said it also may develop another 500 megawatts of wind generation in southern Alberta in the next five years.
The planned expansion of Summerview will boost generating capacity at the wind farm near Pincher Creek to 136 megawatts, enough power for about 55,000 homes and offsetting 257,000 metric tons of carbon-dioxide emissions, the statement said.
The company, the largest publicly traded power producer in Canada, derives about 62% of its net generation capacity from coal plants, according to the company's annual report.
TransAlta emitted 39.2 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions including carbon dioxide in 2007, up 4% from the previous year, said the company's annual report.
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Ontario Energy minister downplays dispute between auditor, electricity regulator
TORONTO - The bad blood between the Ontario government and auditor general bubbled to the surface once again Monday, with the Liberal energy minister downplaying a dispute between the auditor and the Crown corporation that manages the province's electricity market.
Glenn Thibeault said concerns raised by auditor general Bonnie Lysyk during testimony before a legislative committee last week aren't new and the practices being used by the Independent Electricity System Operator are commonly endorsed by major auditing firms.
"(Lysyk) doesn't like the rate-regulated accounting. We've always said we've relied on the other experts within the field as well, plus the provincial controller," Thibeault said.
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