Transalta to Sell Power Plant to Syncrude

"This asset did not fit our business strategy of operating the plants we own," said Toby Austin, TransAlta's vice president and general manager of Independent Power Projects, Western Canada.

"We will reinvest the proceeds from the sale as we grow gas-fired generation by 500 megawatts per year."

The 265-megawatt Mildred Lake cogeneration plant, which provides electric and thermal energy to the Syncrude Project, has been wholly owned by TransAlta since 1996 and operated by Syncrude since the plant was commissioned in 1978.

TransAlta is an international electric energy company with more than $7 billion in assets. The company is focused on achieving strong earnings growth and enhancing its competitive edge as a low-cost operator of generation and transmission assets, and a successful developer of gas-fired independent power projects. The company is concentrating its growth in Canada, the United States, Australia and Mexico. TransAlta owns and operates more than 8,000 megawatts of generation plus significant transmission assets in Alberta.