British Columbia, Canada-based steelmaking coal goliath Teck Resources Limited announced on September 21 that it has signed a joint venture agreement with Canadian integrated energy company Suncor Energy Products Inc. to develop the Wintering Hills wind power project in the province of Alberta, Canada.
Under the terms of the agreement, Suncor will own a 70 percent interest and operate the project and Teck will own the remaining 30 percent. Teck expects its total investment in connection with the project to be approximately $66 million.
The 88 MW project, which received regulatory approval from the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) on June 7, 2010, will consist of 55 General Electric 1.6 MW turbines located on privately-owned land approximately 21 km south east of Drumheller, Alberta. Construction on the project began in July and is expected to be completed by the end of 2011. At peak operation, Wintering Hills is expected to generate enough clean electricity to power approximately 35,000 Alberta homes, displacing the equivalent of approximately 200,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.
"We're excited about the opportunity to grow our current renewables portfolio," said Jim Provias, vice president, Renewable Energy. "Wintering Hills will be Suncor's biggest wind power project to date and another example of Suncor's ongoing commitment to increasing renewable energy options in Canada," he added.