Mar 14 2013
TransAlta Corporation announces completion of our New Richmond Wind Facility located in the wind-rich Gaspésie area of Québec. New Richmond was officially commissioned early this morning, when TransAlta's turbines were energized to the Hydro-Québec grid.
TransAlta's newest wind farm New Richmond, March 13, 2013
New Richmond's commissioning adds 68 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy to the province's supply; enough to meet the needs of approximately 11,000 Québec homes every year. All of the power generated is under a 20-year contract with Hydro-Québec Distribution and supports local utility needs; ensuring citizens have access to reliable renewable electricity.
"The New Richmond wind farm was commissioned today and now provides additional renewable energy to our customer, Hydro-Québec," said Dawn Farrell, TransAlta's president and chief executive officer. "We are grateful for the vision, cooperation and partnership of the local communities, contractors, officials, suppliers including our turbine supplier Enercon, and our customer for their contributions to this project."
During development and construction the New Richmond project generated over 250 jobs. Ongoing it will provide additional long-term local employment and economic benefits created through land leases, agreements made with the three municipalities involved and TransAlta's contributions to the communities.
"Adding New Richmond to our company means we now supply 167MW of wind in the Québec market, and over 1,220MW of wind power to customers in Québec, New Brunswick, Ontario and Alberta," said Mrs. Farrell. "Renewable energy assets, wind, geothermal and hydro, now make up almost 25% of our portfolio; a significant achievement for the company over the past decade."