Construction has recently commenced on ENMAX Energy's Crossfield Energy Centre, a 120 megawatt (MW) natural-gas peaking plant located near Crossfield, Alberta.

For this project, ENMAX Energy has selected Washington Group Northern Ltd. to lead the engineering and construction and has purchased gas turbines from General Electric. This facility will be General Electric’s first installation of its ultra-low emission gas turbines in North America.

"Committing to this state-of-the-art technology is a significant step forward in our plans to add new generation to the grid," said Dave Rehn, Executive Vice-President, Generation and Wholesale Energy Supply, ENMAX Corporation. "We are demonstrating our commitment to building cleaner generation facilities that emit fewer pollutants and are located closer to the electrical load."

As a fast-start peaking facility, the Crossfield Energy Centre is designed to meet periods of high daytime electrical demand, which generally occur during high and low temperature periods.  The facility is scheduled to become operational in the fall of 2009 and is expected to operate about 15 to 45 per cent of the time to help stabilize the province’s southern transmission grid.
 
"In a time when demand for electricity in Alberta continues to reach record levels, the Crossfield generation facility is one of the solutions to several existing Alberta system issues," said Gary Holden, President and CEO of ENMAX Corporation, who outlined the following benefits of building gas-fired generation in and around Calgary:

1. They assist the Alberta Electric System Operator with reliability for Southern Alberta. 
2. They help to firm up the southern transmission grid, contributing greatly to the development of additional wind farms. 
3. They dramatically reduce power transmission line losses which furthers the environmental benefits by reducing the amount of electricity that needs to be generated in the province.
4. They lower greenhouse gas emission rates, which supports the Province’s CO2 intensity reduction targets for the electricity sector.

About ENMAX Energy
ENMAX Energy Corporation, a subsidiary of ENMAX Corporation, is Alberta’s leading competitive electricity retailer. ENMAX Energy also provides natural gas and value-added services to residential, commercial and industrial customers throughout Alberta. Through subsidiaries, ENMAX Energy is one of Alberta’s largest investors in renewable energy with partial ownership of the McBride Lake Wind Farm and complete ownership of the Taber and Kettles Hill Wind Farms. ENMAX Energy was the first Canadian electricity retailer to offer customers the option to support wind generated energy. Visit our website at www.enmaxenergy.com.

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