The agreement includes 138 ECO 110 3.0 MW wind turbines, and 10 years of maintenance services.

The landmark agreement marks Alstom’s successful entry into the Canadian wind market. Each Alstom ECO 110 wind turbine is classified II-A and IS Class with a rotor diameter of 110 meters, suited to maximising power output from intermediate wind speeds averaging 8.5 m/s. Alstom says it will assemble the turbine nacelles in its factories located in Amarillo, Texas, and in Buñuel, Spain, and will source other components globally.

The Wild Rose 1 and Wild Rose 2 wind farms will be located on private agricultural land in Cypress County, southeast of the city of Medicine Hat in the province of Alberta. Scheduled to enter commercial operations at the end of 2014 and end of 2015, Wild Rose 1 and 2 will be the largest wind farm in Canada on a combined basis, with a total installed generation capacity of approximately 414 MW.

NaturEner says it remains in active negotiations on long-term energy and environmental attribute sales from the projects. This portfolio of contracts will facilitate financing of the projects. NaturEner is also in advanced negotiations on financing structures.

The province of Alberta is a net importer of electricity - importing roughly 70 TWh annually. Coal and gas power plants produce 82 percent of its domestic power generation capacity. The province currently has 1,117 MW of wind generation capacity installed on its electric transmission system, representing approximately eight per cent of Alberta’s total installed generation capacity. Up to 2,000 MW of additional wind power generation could be developed in southern Alberta over the next 10 years.