TransCanada Acquires Two Solar Facilities from Canadian Solar

TransCanada Corp. announced it has acquired two additional Ontario solar power facilities from Canadian Solar Solutions Inc. — the Brockville 2 and Burritts Rapids projects. This deal follows the previously announced purchase of Brockville 1 as part of an agreement made in 2011 to acquire nine solar power facilities from Canadian Solar Solutions.

The combined capacity of the nine projects is 86 MW at a total cost of approximately $470 million. All nine projects have 20-year power purchase agreements with the Ontario Power Authority.

“This agreement further demonstrates our commitment to increasing the supply and availability of clean, renewable energy,” said Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer. “While our portfolio of solar, wind and other emission-less energy sources has expanded in recent years, we also recognize the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts North America will continue to rely on natural gas and other fossil fuels for decades to come.”

Girling adds that TransCanada’s business relationship with Canadian Solar allows the company to continue to expand its energy capacity in Ontario and will add to a diverse power generating portfolio where a third of the power we own, or have interests in, comes from emission-less or renewable energy sources.

To date, the company has invested over $5 billion in emission-less energy sources including the largest wind farm in New England and thirteen hydro power facilities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont, as well as solar projects and Canada’s largest wind farm development in Quebec. TransCanada is a partner in Bruce Power, Canada’s first private nuclear generator that currently produces 6,200 MW of emission-free electricity in Ontario. TransCanada also specializes in building highly efficient natural gas-fired power plants that are helping North America’s transition to a less carbon-intensive electricity supply mix.

TransCanada anticipates the remaining six solar projects will come into service by the end of 2014. They will complement TransCanada’s existing operations in Ontario where it has become the largest independent power producer in the province.

— Solar Builder magazine

[source: http://www.solarbuildermag.com/news/transcanada-acquires-two-solar-facilities-canadian-solar/]