Canada's Brascan Corporation has bought US-based Great Northern Paper's hydro generating and transmission system in northern Maine for US$156.5M.
The transmission system is interconnected with New England’s power grid, and increases Brascan’s ability to market power in the increasingly integrated North American energy markets.
Brascan is making the purchase through its energy subsidiary, Great Lakes Power. The purchase gives Brascan six hydro generating stations on the Penobscot river, with a total capacity of about 130MW, and 11 storage dams with 300,000MWh of storage capacity.
With this acquisition, Brascan has increased its total electricity generating capacity to 1114MW from 28 power plants located mainly in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Maine.
Brascan and Great Northern have also agreed to look at the possibility of developing a a new transmission line connecting Quebec and the New England power pool, using Great Northern’s rights of way in Maine which extend to the Quebec border.