May 5 2008
Boralex inc. and Gaz Metro Limited Parnership are pleased to announce that the Consortium has won two wind power projects totaling an installed capacity of 272 megawatts, following a call for tenders by Hydro-Quebec.
These two wind farms, located on the private property of Seminaire de Quebec, will be operational by the end of 2013 at the latest. The Seigneurie de Beaupre, host of the Consortium projects, gives them distinctive advantages. In fact, it offers exceptional wind fields due to the quality of the wind itself. This site is located outside any urban or residential area: 60 km north-east of Quebec City and 15 km north of Saint-Tite-des-Caps. Therefore, the visual and noise impacts of these two farms will be almost inexistent for the surrounding communities. Furthermore, the forestry operations already held on this site over the last few years will contribute to the integration of these projects in a respectful manner to the environment, to the fauna and the flora of the area as roads to the sites already exist.
The Consortium has teamed up with Enercon, a world-renowned leading manufacturer in the wind power sector. Enercon plans on opening a factory of high quality wind power components in Quebec. Boralex already benefits from Enercon's expertise. More than half of Boralex's wind power installations operate with Enercon's technology. This relationship has so far been very successful.
The sale of electricity to Hydro-Quebec, a company with solid financial background, will ensure the reliability of the revenues generated by these projects.
"This breakthrough in wind power in Quebec represents a great day for Boralex and its partners. The wind farms of Seigneurie de Beaupre are the result of a close relationship with Seminaire de Quebec. Without their open-mindedness and input, we would never have been able to propose such quality projects", said Patrick Lemaire, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boralex.
"Boralex and Gaz Metro, two Quebec-based companies, are proud to join their expertise in realizing high scale energy projects in order to develop renewable energy production for the province. This is a unique alliance that boasts very well for the future", added Sophie Brochu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gaz Metro.
Since the Consortium has already completed and filed its environmental impact study with the Ministere du Developpement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs, it should soon be made public. A new Web site will shortly be online (http://www.seigneuriedebeaupre.com) and will contain all pertinent information on the wind farms of Seigneurie de Beaupre.