TransAlta Renewables Temporarily Suspends Operations at Kent Hills Wind Facility Pending Investigation of Wind Tower Failure

CALGARY, AB, Oct. 18, 2021 /CNW/ - TransAlta Renewables Inc. ("TransAlta Renewables" or the "Company") (TSX: RNW) announced today that its indirect subsidiary Kent Hills Wind LP ("KHW") had experienced a single tower failure at its 167 MW Kent Hills wind facility in Kent Hills, New Brunswick (the "Facility").  The Facility was completed in three phases and is 83% owned by KHW and 17% by Natural Forces Technologies. 

The Facility consists of 50 turbines at Kent Hills 1 and Kent Hills 2, which achieved operation in December 2008 and November 2010, respectively; and five turbines at Kent Hills 3, which began operations in October 2018. The tower failure involves a collapsed tower located within the Kent Hills 2 site. There were no injuries as a result of the collapse. No one was in the area when the incident occurred and there are no homes in the immediate vicinity. The Company's emergency response team has secured the area to ensure safety.

The remaining turbines at the Kent Hills 1 and Kent Hills 2 sites have been taken offline temporarily as a precautionary measure. Local authorities and relevant regulatory agencies have been notified and the Company is working closely with third-party engineering firms to perform safety assessments to determine the root cause of the failure and to safely return the site to service. 

"The Company takes this incident very seriously. Our primary concern is to ensure the safety of our employees, contractors and local communities. Safety is a core value for our Company and our response to the incident reflects our commitment to acting in a safe and operationally responsible manner", said Todd Stack, President of TransAlta Renewables.  

About TransAlta Renewables Inc.

TransAlta Renewables is among the largest of any publicly traded renewable independent power producers ("IPP") in Canada. Our asset platform and economic interests are diversified in terms of geography, generation and counterparties and consist of interests in 24 wind facilities, 13 hydroelectric facilities, eight natural gas generation facilities, one solar facility, one natural gas pipeline, and one battery storage project, representing an ownership interest of 2,633 megawatts of owned generating capacity, located in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, the States of Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Washington and the State of Western Australia. Our objectives are to (i) provide stable, consistent returns for investors through the ownership of, and investment in, highly contracted renewable and natural gas power generation and other infrastructure assets that provide stable cash flow primarily through long-term contracts with strong counterparties; (ii) pursue and capitalize on strategic growth opportunities in the renewable and natural gas power generation and other infrastructure sectors; (iii) maintain diversity in terms of geography, generation and counterparties; and (iv) pay out 80 to 85 per cent of cash available for distribution to the shareholders of the Company on an annual basis.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information", within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, and "forward-looking statements", within the meaning of applicable United States securities laws, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements"). In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "plans", "expects", "proposed", "will", "anticipates", "develop", "continue", and similar expressions suggesting future events or future performance. In particular, this news release contains, without limitation, statements pertaining to the incident at the Kent Hills wind farm and the Company's actions in response to such incident, including safety assessments undertaken to determine the root cause of the failure and measures taken to ensure the safety of employees, contractors and local communities. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based on current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions, having regard to the Company's experience and its perception of historical trends, and includes, but is not limited to, expectations based on preliminary assessments of the Company's internal and third-party engineers. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that could cause such differences include: the effects of weather, catastrophes and public health crises, including COVID-19; labour availability; the results of the testing for the foundations being worse than expected; failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals in a timely fashion, or at all; and other risks and uncertainties discussed in the Company's materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities from time to time and as also set forth in the Company's MD&A and Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2020. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the Company's expectations only as of the date of this news release. TransAlta Renewables disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE TransAlta Renewables Inc.

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