By Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun, March 2, 2011
VANCOUVER — Plutonic Power Corporation has completed the startup of its 43-turbine wind farm at Dokie Ridge near Chetwynd, and is selling energy to BC Hydro under a 25-year energy purchase agreement.
Dokie wind farm, near Chetwynd, is a partnership between Vancouver-based Plutonic Power and GE Energy Financial Services. (Photograph by: Submitted photo, PNG files) |
The $228-million project, built by Plutonic and financed by partner GE Energy Financial Services, began its startup last November and reached its target of achieving commercial operations on Feb. 17, Plutonic stated in a news release.
The Dokie operation has a capacity of 340,000 megawatt hours a year, enough energy to supply the needs of 34,000 homes. B.C. has one other operational wind farm, Alta Gas’s Bear Mountain wind farm, west of Dawson Creek.
“The now-fully operational Dokie Wind project represents an important new growth platform for us and a significant milestone in the Plutonic-GE partnership,” Plutonic chief executive officer Donald McInnes said in a press release.
Plutonic has a 51-per-cent stake in the wind project, while GE Energy Financial Services holds the remaining 49 per cent. Energy analyst Ike Kaja, of Salman Partners, said the announcement did not affect Plutonic’s share price — now trading at $2.22 a share on the Toronto exchange, because investors have already factored the wind farm into Plutonic stock. Kaja has a target of $4.25 a share on the stock.
“More than anything it’s a qualitative signal in terms of building management’s credibility as well as showing that partnership between GE and Plutonic is pretty effective in getting their projects done.”
The addition of the wind farm doubles Plutonic-GE’s operating capacity. The partners also operate a run-of-river operation at Toba Inlet on the B.C. coast, which went into operation last November.
Kaja said Plutonic’s partnership with GE has paid off for the company.
“GE was able to essentially secure financing for the company for those two projects,” he said. “These projects have huge capital expenditures to get them up and running and that’s a major challenge for the companies involved. GE has definitely helped them get over that hump.”
Kaja said alternative energy projects face significant financing challenges.
“With new technologies such as this, there is really a high learning curve, whereby it is really expensive in the beginning and then along the line it gets more to the acceptably affordable level.”
The Dokie wind farm was criticized when it was under construction over its environmental footprint. Built along a mountain ridge, it required a number of access roads and a seven-kilometre transmission line. The project was built on forest land that was clearcut after the mountain pine beetle killed much of the forest cover.
Environmental planner Bruce Muir describes the project’s impact as “unnecessarily large and high-impact,” in an article published on the environmental website GreenMuze.
ghamilton@vancouversun.com
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