TransAlta to start Chihuahua III Sept.

Canadian generator TransAlta (NYSE: TAC) aims to start commercial operations this month for its US$192mn, 259MW gas-powered Chihuahua III power plant in northern Mexico, company spokesperson Tim Richter told BNamericas. Though company officials had expected to open the facility in August, "a number of little technical issues" slipped the starting date, Richter said, adding the plant is undergoing final tests. State power company CFE will purchase 100% of Chihuahua III's power under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA). In May, TransAlta started its US$202mn, 252MW Campeche combined cycle gas and diesel-fueled power plant in the Yucatan peninsula. Also in the Yucatan, TransAlta is one of three companies that submitted bids to the CFE for a contract to build, own and operate the 508MW Valladolid III combined cycle thermoelectric project, BNamericas previously reported. Apart from this, "We're just going to keep an eye on opportunities [in Mexico] as they present themselves," Richter said. TransAlta is Canada's largest non-regulated power generation and wholesale marketing company, with 9bn Canadian dollars (today US$6.56bn) in coal-fired, gas-fired, hydro and renewable generation assets in Canada, the US, Mexico and Australia.