GE Wins Big Canadian Wind Turbine Order from NextEra Energy Resources

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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--NextEra Energy Canada (Burlington, Ontario), a unit of NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida) will deploy wind turbines from General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut) in six windfarms in Ontario. GE will supply 288 of its new 1.6-100 wind turbines to the windfarms, which will have a total generating capacity of about 465 megawatts (MW). The six projects represent a total investment value (TIV) of about $1.3 billion.

The six grassroot windfarms include:

• East Durham, a 22.4-MW project with TIV of about $53 million
• Bayfield Bluewater, a 59.2-MW project with TIV of about $207 million
• Adelaide Wind Energy Centre, a 60-MW project with TIV of $138 million
• London Bornish, a 72-MW project valued at approximately $193.5 million
• Grand Bend Goshen, a 102.4-MW project valued at approximately $375 million
• Warwick Jericho Wind Energy Centre, a 150-MW project with TIV of about $340 million

NextEra Energy Resources (Juno Beach), NextEra Energy's competitive energy business unit, is the largest windpower developer in North America and the second-largest wind developer in the world, after Iberdrola SA (PINK:IBDRY) (Bilbao, Spain), Steve Stengel, a spokesman for NextEra Energy Resources, said in an interview. NextEra Energy Resources also is the largest solar energy developer in North America, he added. The business added about 177 MW of new wind generation in the U.S. during the first quarter. It is on track to add a total of 1,300 MW of new wind generation this year in the U.S. Another 600 MW of Canadian wind projects will be added to its portfolio between 2012 and 2015, according to the first-quarter earnings release from its corporate parent NextEra Energy Incorporated. For the just-concluded quarter, the subsidiary reported adjusted net earnings of $182 million, down slightly from the $189 million in adjusted net earnings for the comparable year-earlier period.

These six windfarms in Ontario will be some of the first installations of this GE turbine technology in Canada. GE has secured more than 1,200 megawatts of global commitments for the 1.6-100 turbine since it was launched in May. Featuring 100-meter blades, this turbine is able to capture additional energy in low-wind environments, GE said.

"We developed our new 1.6-100 wind turbine specifically to meet the higher performance and efficiency challenges of today's wind industry, in Canada and worldwide," Vic Abate, vice president of renewable energy for GE, said in a statement issued April 10. "After the strong global acceptance of this technology, we're extremely pleased that our 1.6 wind turbines now will have a major presence in Canada."

"We are pleased to expand our partnership with GE as we continue our efforts to bring these important wind projects into service to increase Ontario's supply of clean, wind-generated electricity," added Armando Pimentel, president and CEO of NextEra Energy Resources. "These projects will benefit the environment, and they will help to create jobs and generate additional economic opportunities throughout the province of Ontario."

The six windfarms are scheduled to begin construction in 2012 and 2013. Depending on their size, the windfarms are scheduled to begin generating electricity between six and 18 months after beginning construction. The output will be sold to the Ontario Power Authority (Toronto, Ontario) under a 20-year purchase power agreement (PPA). Together, these six projects are expected to create more than 4,000 direct and indirect jobs, GE estimated.

The equipment will be manufactured in Ontario at plants owned by GE and its suppliers, which will support NextEra Energy Canada's commitment to meeting the requirements of Ontario's Green Energy Act. The law, passed in 2009, is intended to expand renewable energy production, encourage energy conservation and create green jobs. The law requires that 50% of all project goods and labor must come from Ontario at the time they reach commercial operation.

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