Momentarily, at least, focus at the largest renewable energy utility in Canada, Canadian Hydro Developers (PinkSheets: CHDVF, CHDVF message board) has shifted from the nightmare of a three-month wait for a white knight bidder, to prospective growth in the company’s wind energy portfolio. Already boasting about 694 megawatts of power generation capacity in that country, Canadian Hydro has cut a tentative deal with Utah-based Wasatch Wind, Inc. for the rights to harness the consistent offshore wind resources of Ontario to produce a massive 4,400 MW of electric energy. The announcement follows the Feed-In-Tariff 20-year programme that was recently passed by the province of Ontario under its Green Energy Act, which guarantees a premium for the power produced in offshore wind plants.
If this dream project was to come true today, it would be the only such facility in North America, and probably the world’s largest, with a capacity to cater to more than two million homes. Besides, it would be a step closer in the direction of the ultimate goal set by the country’s wind energy sector, to be in a position of supplying 20 percent of electricity by 2025. At the moment, the sector is providing only 1 percent of energy demands in Canada, with the rest being by hydro-electricity, coal-fired and nuclear power, in that order.
In a statement released on Monday, Canadian Hydro said it expects to have the first 400 to 500 MW online towards the close of 2014, having first shown proof of financing and sought approval from regulatory and environmental authorities. Also according to the wind-energy projects developer, the turbines will be set up between five and 30 kilometres offshore, in Lake Erie.
Canadian Hydro has, since July, been trying to get around an unsolicited and “inadequate” $4.55 per share takeover bid from TransAlta Corporation (NYSE: TAC). While the former has been claiming that there are other prospective suitors with more attractive offers, the latter maintains that its offer is enough to provide “Canadian Hydro shareholders with significant, immediate and certain value for the company’s existing assets, as well as its future growth potential”.
Both companies closed slightly higher in Tuesday’s trading, with Canadian Hydro at $4.74, from $4.71; and TransAlta at $19.94, from $19.93.
Reference:
http://www.canhydro.com/
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