|
5 October 2004 - GE Energy has been selected to supply up to 660 wind turbines, totaling 990 MW of wind-generated electricity, for eight projects in Quebec to be placed on line between years 2006 and 2012. An announcement by Hydro-Québec Monday marked the largest single award for new wind generation capacity in the history of the global wind energy industry.
The solicitation, initiated by Hydro-Québec under a 2003 request for proposals to supply 1000 MW of new wind power capacity by 2012, supports Quebec's 2003 government Decrees 352 and 353, which call for that amount of additional wind capacity.
As a result of the proposal award, GE Energy will supply 740 MW of wind turbines to Cartier Wind Energy and 250 MW of wind turbines to Northland Power Inc./Northland Power Income Fund, both named as winning bidders. Cartier is a consortium of Innergex, TransCanada Energy and Renewable Energy Systems USA (RES), while Northland Power is a leading Canadian developer of independent power projects.
Over the course of six years, GE's wind turbines will be installed at several locations, including Baie-des-Sables, St-Ulric/St-Léandre, Les Méchins, Mont Louis, Ste-Madeleine-de-la-Rivière-Madeleine, Cloridorme, Gaspé and Carleton. The power generated will be provided to Hydro-Québec Distribution, the utility's retail division, for distribution throughout Quebec. Hydro-Québec is an international leader in power generation, transmission and distribution.
"We are pleased and proud to support these milestone projects," said Steve Zwolinski, CEO of GE Energy's wind segment. "Hydro-Québec's solicitation underscores its forethought and leadership in supporting Quebec's energy initiatives, and expedites the delivery of new renewable capacity to the people of Quebec." Currently, Canada's installed wind energy capacity totals 372 MW, including 113.25 MW in Quebec. Forecasts by the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CANWEA) anticipate the installation of 10,000 MW of wind power across the country by 2010. According to CANWEA, projects such as the Hydro-Québec effort are evidence of wind energy's growing momentum.
To support the projects, GE will set up facilities to enable up to 60 per cent of the wind energy components, materials and services to be supplied, manufactured and assembled locally. The units will feature GE's low voltage ride-through technology and the capability to operate in extremely cold weather. Wind turbine installation will begin in 2006 and extend into 2012.
In addition to supplying wind turbines, GE will provide operation and maintenance services under multi-year contracts that are currently being negotiated.
The first projects, which will be completed in 2006, will utilize GE's 1.5 MW wind turbines, the mostly widely sold wind turbines in the MW class. Recently, GE announced that its 2,500th 1.5 MW wind turbine was installed as part of a wind project in Italy.
The wind projects will further expand GE's presence in Canada. Currently, GE employs more than 9500 people in Canada, including 3000 in Quebec, and has been operating its businesses within Canada for more than 112 years
|
Articles 
| View all PennWell sites | View all PennWell events
Add RSS Feed
