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Some major US wind power players looking to expand north of the international border have made it to the shortlist in Manitoba Hydro's request for 300 MW of wind power. The utility has invited seven developers to move to the next stage in the solicitation process and provide their "best and final offers" for ten projects ranging in size from 66 MW to 100 MW. The list includes the UK's Airtricity with three projects, American Invenergy with one project and Australian listed company Babcock & Brown, also with one project. All three companies are active in the US market and have been hoping to gain a foothold in Canada. The shortlist also includes Canadian companies with a track record in wind. Among them, two projects have been submitted by Ontario's Algonquin Power, which owns Manitoba's first and only wind farm and one project by Calgary-based Suncor Energy, an oil company with wind farms in three other provinces. Toronto's AIM Powergen and GE have teamed up on a project, while Winnipeg-based Sequoia Energy and the UK's Renewable Energy Systems are partnering on another. Manitoba Hydro received 84 proposals totalling more than 10,000 MW in response to its request for proposals, which closed in July. The winners will be announced later this winter.