TransAlta's 440-MW Sarnia Plant To Be Online By Mid-Jan
Thursday January 9, 4:36 pm ET
CALGARY --Final testing of TransAlta Corp.'s cogeneration power plant in Sarnia, Ontario, will be completed by mid-January, the company said, adding 440-megawatts to the provincial grid after months of delays.
Construction problems held up the final commissioning of the C$400-million Sarnia plant, which will immediately service industrial concerns Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE:DOW - News) , Nova Chemicals Corp. , and Bayer Inc. .
The cogeneration plant has contracted 100% of its steam, but only a third of its electricity, TransAlta said this week. The corporation will sell the remainder of its power output on the spot market until long-term contacts are negotiated, spokeswoman Nadine Walz said from Calgary.
"The biggest factor impacting the plant will be the short-term spark spread," Walz said.
Spark spreads, or electricity prices divided by natural gas prices, have dropped steadily along with power prices since the Ontario government slapped a 4.3-cent per kilowatt hour rate cap on retail power prices last month.
While TransAlta is more comfortable contracting two thirds of its power and exposing the rest to volatile electricity trading, it's unlikely more contracts will be negotiated until the Ontario government settles its power market policies.
"Government intervention on what's supposed to be a free market obviously concerns us," Walz said. "We're not putting another penny in (Ontario) until the uncertainty is figured out."
TransAlta's Sarnia plant will generate approximately 650 megawatts of power, including 210 MW from an existing steam turbine. The facilities are located in a petrochemical complex on the southern tip of Ontario. |
