TransAlta Wins Bid to Build Second Power Plant in Mexico

Business Wire, March 8, 2001

Business Editors

CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 8, 2001

TransAlta (TSE:TA.)

TransAlta Corporation announced today it has won a competitive bid to build and operate a 259-megawatt (MW) power plant in Mexico.

The Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) in Mexico selected TransAlta to build and operate the power plant in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

CFE, the state-run utility, will purchase 100 per cent of the power from TransAlta's Chihuahua plant under a 25-year power purchase agreement. In addition to power purchase agreements, TransAlta will have a long-term fuel supply agreement with Enron.

"We are pleased to have won a second bid to build and operate a power plant in the dynamic Mexican market," says Steve Snyder, TransAlta's president and CEO. "With this commitment, TransAlta has 1,400 megawatts committed or under construction and 1,430 megawatts under active development."

Subject to final contracts and permitting, construction of the Chihuahua plant is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2001, with commercial operations projected for second quarter 2003. The total cost of the facility is expected to be $192 million US.

On Feb. 22, 2000, TransAlta successfully won a bid to build and operate a 252 MW facility in Campeche, Mexico. The company began actively exploring opportunities in Mexico in 1999 as part of its strategy to grow gas-fired generation by 500 MW per year. TransAlta will continue to evaluate and respond to future opportunities in Mexico.

TransAlta is an international electric energy company with more than $7.0 billion in assets. The company is focused on achieving strong earnings growth and enhancing its competitive edge as a low-cost operator of generation and transmission assets, and a successful developer of gas-fired independent power projects. The company is concentrating its growth in Canada, the United States, Australia and Mexico. TransAlta owns and operates more than 8,000 megawatts of generation plus significant transmission assets in Alberta.