HYDRO QUEBEC ANNOUNCES SELECTION OF DEVELOPERS

Hydro Quebec has announced the selection of the prospective developers of a 5 MW wind farm for the wind swept Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. On July 12 the public utility named Kenetech of San Francisco and its Quebec partner Arno Electrique as the winning team to build, own and operate the wind farm. The utility had previously shortlisted SeaWest and Zond in the competition along with Kenetech. Hydro Quebec and Kenetech will negotiate a 25-year contract covering electricity purchases worth CDN$13.3 million (1993 dollars). The Kenetech proposal complies with the CDN$0.07 per kilowatt hour ceiling set by the request for proposals of April 1993, which was Quebec's first commercial wind power RFP. Sixteen of Kenetech's 300 kW model, 33M-VS turbines with be sited at Dune du Sud at the northern tip of Ile Du Havre aux Maisons. Kenetech has committed a portion of the wind farm's revenue to a specific environmental follow-up and development programme. The wind farm will be integrated with the local 35 MW peak demand diesel system to serve the 6000 Magdalen customers, the largest client block among Hydro Quebec's 24 off-grid service areas supplied solely by diesel generators. Kenetech is also developing two on-grid wind farms for Hydro Quebec totalling 100 MW nameplate capacity on the Gaspe Peninsula, south of the St. Lawrence River on the Quebec mainland.