Canadian Hydro to acquire largest offshore wind operation

Photo: Philipp Hertzog

Canadian Hydro Developers Inc has entered into an agreement to acquire the rights to what it calls the largest offshore wind operation in the world.

The company, which has been fighting a hostile takeover bid from TransAlta for the last several weeks, said it will acquire a 4,400 MW offshore wind prospect in Ontario from Wasatch Wind Inc, a private US-based renewable energy company.

When completed, this facility would be supplying enough renewable energy to power over two million homes. The agreement terms are confidential.

The Offshore Wind Prospect is located approximately five to 30 kilometres offshore in one of the Great Lakes bordering Ontario, near available transmission interconnection. It has an estimated net capacity factor of 40 per cent.

The Offshore Wind Prospect is eligible for the Ontario Green Energy Act’s Feed-In-Tariff 20-year contract at a price of USD190 per MWh, subject to 100 per cent of Ontario consumer price index (“CPI”) inflation from contract signing to commercial operations and 20 per cent of Ontario CPI annually thereafter.

Canadian Hydro anticipates that the Offshore Wind Prospect will be built in stages, with the first 400 to 500 MW to come online by the fourth quarter of 2014. Regulatory and environmental permits and approvals, site release from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and financing are required prior to proceeding with construction.

CEO Kent Brown said, “Canadian Hydro already owns and operates the two largest wind facilities in Canada. We are leading the way in Ontario by generating 40 per cent of the province’s installed renewable energy capacity, and we are eager to pioneer offshore wind in Ontario and North America.”