Italian energy firm Enel will build two new wind facilities with a combined capacity of 145.6MW in the Canadian province of Alberta with an investment of around $170m.
The company’s subsidiary Enel Green Power (EGP) North America was awarded two 20-year Renewable Energy Support Agreements (RESAs) for the wind farms after prevailing in a tender launched by the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO).
The auction was the opening round of the Renewable Electricity Program, which is expected to result in about $1bn of private-sector investment in green power projects in Alberta.
Under the Renewable Electricity Program, Alberta plans to support development of 5GW of renewable electricity capacity to achieve its target of 30% renewable energy by 2030.
The new wind projects to be developed by Enel are the 115MW Riverview Wind project and the 30.6MW Phase 2 of Castle Rock Ridge wind farm which are slated to become operational by 2019.
To be located in Pincher Creek, the two wind farms will supply the power they generate and their renewable energy credits to AESO.
Put together, the two facilities will produce clean energy of 555GWh per year.
The Phase 2 of Castle Rock Ridge will be an expansion of the existing 76.2MW Castle Rock Ridge wind farm, owned by EGP North America.
With the two new wind farms, EGP will more than double its capacity in Canada which is currently at more than 103MW. Also part of the company’s portfolio in Canada is the 27MW St. Lawrence wind farm in Newfoundland, which has been operating since 2009.