Former Facebook Friends Sign Renewable Agreement
TransAlta Corporation (TransAlta) it has entered into a long-term renewable energy purchase agreement with Meta, formerly known as the Facebook company, for the offtake of 100% of the generation from its 200-MW Horizon Hill Wind Power project (Horizon Hill), to be located in Logan County, Oklahoma. Under this agreement, Meta will receive both renewable electricity and environmental attributes. This long-term contract with Meta enables TransAlta to add the 200-MW Horizon Hill to its growing US wind generation fleet.
“Since 2020, Meta has supported its global operations with 100% wind and solar energy. As our footprint grows, it’s key that we find strong partners who can help us continue to meet that goal by bringing new renewable energy to the grid,” said Urvi Parekh, head of renewable energy at Meta. “We are excited to partner with TransAlta to make this 200-MW project a reality.”
TransAlta acquired Horizon Hill in December 2019. Horizon Hill is a late-stage development project located approximately 39 miles north of Oklahoma City. The project is located on approximately 25,000 acres of privately owned land.
The project will consist of a total of 34 Vestas turbines with construction expected to begin in Q4 2022 and a target commercial operation date in the second half of 2023. TransAlta will construct, operate, and own the facility. Total project capital is estimated at approximately US$290 million to US$310 million and is expected to be financed with existing liquidity and tax equity. More than 90% of the project costs are captured under executed fixed price turbine supply agreements with Vestas and executed engineering, procurement, and construction agreement with Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives. The facility is expected to generate total annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of approximately US$27 million to US$30 million including production tax credits. It is expected that Horizon Hill will remain a TransAlta project.
“TransAlta is excited to partner with Meta to make Horizon Hill a reality. The delivery of clean, low-cost, reliable energy from Horizon Hill supports Meta’s sustainability goals and provides another excellent opportunity to expand our wind fleet in the United States,” said John Kousinioris, president and CEO of TransAlta. “Horizon Hill brings us to 40% of our target of adding 2 GW of new renewables to our fleet by 2025 under our Clean Electricity Growth Plan.”
Headquartered in Calgary, TransAlta owns, operates, and develops a diverse fleet of electrical power generation assets in Canada, the United States, and Australia.
