Squire Patton Boggs has advised TransAlta Corporation on a project to build, own and operate a 150MW combined cycle gas power station in South Hedland, Western Australia.  The project, expected to cost in the region of AUD $570 million, will create one of the most efficient power stations in the region, supplying power to Horizon Power, a state owned utility, and to The Pilbara Infrastructure Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortescue Metals Group.  Headquartered in Calgary, TransAlta is Canada's largest publicly traded generator and marketer of electricity and renewable power, with assets and power plants in Canada, the United States and Australia.

The Squire Patton Boggs team advising TransAlta was led by Energy and Natural Resources Partner Clare Pope, assisted by Senior Associate Samantha Smart, and Associates Fiona Meaton, Lindsey Pheloung-Beck and Emily O’Mahony.

Clare commented: “We have a long-standing relationship with TransAlta and were delighted to support the company in relation to its latest investment.  Western Australia is an important market for TransAlta; the company has been operating in the region for more than 15 years and has now invested close to a billion dollars in assets with long-term contracts.”

In January, Squire Patton Boggs acted for TransAlta in the formation, by its wholly owned subsidiary TEC Pilbara, of an unincorporated joint venture with DBP Development Group.  The first project of the joint venture was to develop a US$178 million natural gas pipeline to supply gas to the TransAlta power station which services the mining operations of Fortescue Metals Group at the Solomon Hub in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.