TransCanada's Maine wind farm wins state approval

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp's planned 132-megawatt wind power plant in Maine has won state approval and a federal permit is expected shortly, the company said on Wednesday.

The Maine Land Use Regulation Commission has granted unanimous approval to the $320-million Kibby Wind Power Project in Franklin County, not far from the Quebec border in northwestern Maine, the company said.

The project, which will involve building 44 three-megawatt wind turbine generators, is awaiting a permit from the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers. It has already received local approvals.

Calgary, Alberta-headquartered TransCanada said it expects to begin construction this summer and to have the turbines in production in late 2009 or early 2010.

(Reporting Allan Dowd, Editing by Peter Galloway)