Saskatchewan hands three PPAs to three wind projects

CANADA: Saskatchewan's government-owned monopoly utility has selected three 10MW wind power facilities to receive power purchase contracts.

by Diane Bailey 10 June 2010

The deal comes under the Canadian province's standing offer program for renewable energy projects between100kW to 10MW in size.

SaskPower used a lottery system to select the winning projects from among 43 applicants. The utility also awarded fixed-price, 20-year contracts to a 0.5 MW small hydro project, a 112KW heat recovery project and a 3MW flare gas project. The three were the only non-wind projects to meet the program requirements.

Winning applicants have three years to begin feeding power to the grid, with the price paid for the power dependent on the target commercial date. Projects coming online in 2010 will receive C$94.21/MWh.

The next step is for SaskPower to design and price the power lines that will connect the projects to the Saskatchewan electrical grid, and sign formal power purchase agreements with each supplier.

A spokesman said the utility would not release further project details until after the contracts are signed.