Canadian Hydro to buy large offshore wind prospect

A wind turbine feeds renewable electricity into the Ontario grid at the CNE grounds in Toronto February 18, 2007.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Canadian Hydro Developers Inc, which is fighting off a hostile takeover bid, plans to buy the rights to what it says could become the world's largest offshore wind farm, the company said on Monday.

Canadian Hydro, which is Canada's largest renewable energy company, said the 4,400 megawatt wind prospect is in one of the Great Lakes bordering the province of Ontario.

It gave no price for the project, which is owned by Wasatch Wind Inc., a private U.S.-based renewable energy company.

"We expect the offshore wind prospect to give Canadian Hydro years of strong, double-digit growth and to provide our shareholders with attractive returns," Kent Brown, Canadian Hydro's chief executive officer said in a statement.

Canadian Hydro said that, when completed, the facility would be the largest offshore operation in the world, supplying enough renewable energy to power over two million homes.

It is near transmission lines, has an estimated net capacity factor of 40 percent and is eligible for the Ontario Green Energy Act's Feed-In-Tariff 20-year contract at a price of C$190 per MW.

TransAlta Corp in July bid C$654 million ($600 million) for Canadian Hydro, which last week said it has received a number of other proposals from suitors.

Canadian Hydro's stock was 5 Canadian cents weaker at C$5.10 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday morning.

($1 = $1.09 Canadian)