Suncor finds answer blowin� in the wind

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

Suncor Energy, best known for its oil sands mega-project in northern Alberta, is throwing its reputation to the wind.

A subsidiary of the integrated Canadian oil company has received regulatory approval from Alberta�s Energy and Utilities Board to partner with EHN Wind Power Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of Spain�s Corporacion EHN, in building a C$48 million, 30-megawatt wind power project in southern Alberta.

Construction is scheduled to start this month, with the facility due on line in about three years. The joint venture will sell enough power to meet the demands of 13,000 homeowners to the Alberta electricity grid.

Suncor, which has set renewable energy as one of its corporate goals, sees the project as a �major step in our commitment,� said President and Chief Executive Officer Rick George.

The company is already developing an 11-megawatt wind power project in Saskatchewan that is a 50/50 partnership with Enbridge.

The two facilities are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions � one of the leading greenhouse gases � by about 115,000 metric tons a year.

Harnessing the winds that blast out of the Rocky Mountains and across southern Alberta has included the recently completed 114-turbine McBridge Lake wind farm owned by Vision Quest Windelectric, a unit of independent utility TransAlta.

McBride Lake is designed to produce up to 75 megawatts of electricity and Vision Quest is now working on an even larger project nearby.