Hydro Ottawa buys Domtar’s Ottawa-area energy assets
by Canadian Manufacturing Daily Staff
Purchase doubles utility's green energy capacity
Domtar Corporation, a manufacturer of fibre-based products including specialty packaging, has sold its energy assets in the Ottawa region to a subsidiary of Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc., Energy Ottawa, for $45 million.
The sale includes three hydro-electric plants—with 21 megawatts (MW) of capacity—and Domtar’s 38.3 per cent equity stake in the Chaudière Water Power Inc. ring dam at Chaudière Falls.
Energy Ottawa is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hydro Ottawa and generates EcoLogo-certified green power and markets it to commercial customers.
“We already own and operate three other hydro-electric plants at the Chaudière site,” Pierre Richard, Hydro Ottawa’s chairman of the board, said. “This acquisition increases our generating capacity at Chaudière from 17 megawatts to 38 megawatts of clean electricity, enough to power 28,000 homes every year.”
Hydro Ottawa says Chaudière Falls in one of the largest remaining hydro sites available in Ontario with an expansion opportunity—capacity at the site could be increased to 60 MW.
The utility says it also has other projects underway to expand its sustainable energy offerings.
“In addition to the acquisition of these hydro-electric facilities, Hydro Ottawa continues to work on a 4.5-MW landfill gas-to-energy facility at the Laflèche Landfill site in Moose Creek, Ont., expected to be in service by 2013,” Bryce Conrad, Hydro Ottawa’s president and CEO, said.
“The plant will generate 24,000 megawatt-hours of renewable energy per year—enough to supply 2,500 homes.”
The sale is expected to close August 31.
