West Cape Wind Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Ventus Energy and owner of the West Cape wind farm located near O'Leary, Prince Edward Island (PEI), has become the first independent power producer to export wind power from Canada into the U.S.
A portion of the wind energy generated from newly installed wind turbines located in PEI was wheeled through PEI and New Brunswick and sold to the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL) via the international interconnection node in Keswick, N.B. The renewable energy certificates (RECs) that were generated from this transmission were sold separately to independent buyers located in the NEPOOL.
"The first export of wind power from a wind farm in Canada into the U.S. marks a significant milestone for the Canadian wind industry," says John Douglas, president and chief executive officer of West Cape and Ventus Energy.
According to the company, 11 initial test turbines were installed at the West Cape facility - upon completion of the 120-day test period, 44 additional wind turbines will be installed for a total capacity of 99 MW. Once the project is commissioned, the majority of its electricity will be sold to NEPOOL at then-prevailing market rates under a renewable three-year electricity marketing arrangement, the company notes. West Cape has entered into a 20-year fixed price power purchase agreement with the city of Summerside, PEI, to sell approximately 9 MW of wind power per year from the West Cape facility.
