Welsh Wind Farm Receives Regulatory Approval

BROSSARD, February 13th, 2012 – Geilectric, a subsidiary of Eolectric, has obtained approval from Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) to build and operate the 69 MW Welsch Wind Farm. Located approximately 15 km north-east of Pincher Creek, Alberta, the project consist of twenty-six wind turbines and associated collector lines and substation to be located on private lands.

Geilectric filed its application for the Welsch Wind Farm project on July 2010. The AUC has since conducted an extensive review of the project’s environmental impact assessment, participant involvement program, turbine locations, collector network and substation.

"The decision to approve the Welsch Wind Farm project after this extensive review process indicates that AUC is satisfied that the project complies with all regulatory requirements and that it is in the public’s interest," said Guy Painchaud, President of Eolectric. "It is a very significant milestone in the development of the Welsch Wind Farm and it points out our efforts to minimize environmental impacts and to develop a project in harmony with the local community."

Consisting of seventeen 3 MW turbines and nine 2 MW turbines, this project will provide substantial economics benefits to the Municipal District of Pincher Creek in the form of new jobs, increased tax revenues and royalties for landowners. The wind farm will also provide clean renewable energy to the Alberta Interconnected Electrical System.

With the AUC approval and the development permit issued by the Municipal District of Pincher Creek on August 2010, the Welsh Wind Farm project holds the most important regulatory approvals. Geilectric is now looking forward the conclusion of the southern Alberta electrical system reinforcement which will allow the project to connect.

About Geilectric:

Geilectric is a subsidiary of Eolectric created in 2006 to accelerate development efforts and entry into new markets. Based in Brossard, Quebec, Geilectric’s team is developing wind power project across Canada and Mexico.

About Eolectric:

Established in 2001, Eolectric is one of today’s leading independent wind project developers in Canada. It is actively involved in the identification, the development, the building and the operation of wind projects across Canada and Mexico. Eolectric’s team developed, with various partners, 568 MW of wind farm that are under construction or in operation and successfully assembled a pipeline of wind projects representing close to 2,000 MW. It highly values and invests great efforts in local project acceptance and in environmentally optimised project design.