Canada - Devon Energy to test the AAER A-1500 wind turbine at Coleman Gas plant

Devon Energy Corp. appears to be warming to the idea of wind energy after signing a $2 million deal to purchase a 1.5 MW wind turbine from a Canadian manufacturer for use at the Oklahoma City-based oil and gas company’s Coleman Gas Plant, southwest of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Devon Canada Corp., a subsidiary based in Calgary, is expected to receive the A-1500 turbine in the third quarter of 2009, according to AAER Inc., the turbine manufacturer based in Bromont, Quebec. The C$2.5 million contract (about $2 million in U.S. dollars) includes an extended warranty and operation and maintenance fees for five years.

“We are currently in the process of assembling two A-1500 turbines to be delivered to U.S. customers and the Devon Canada project will represent the first AAER wind turbine to be delivered in Canada, giving us important visibility in our home market,” said Dave Gagnon, president and CEO of AAER, in a statement. “We believe this agreement provides further validation of our capabilities as we begin large-scale commercial turbine production at our Bromont plant.”

Devon Energy’s Chip Minty, supervisor of external communications, said the turbine was an unusual but effective way the company came up with to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while increasing efficiency.

“The energy that this turbine generates goes right into the power grid, so in essence it doesn’t go into our plant, our plant pulls energy from the power grid, and the turbine that is right there on the side goes into the power grid,” Minty said.

“This is an older processing plant, and we are doing things at that plant to try to increase its efficiency and make it more environmentally friendly,” he said. “This is one idea we came up with to try to modernize it.”

The turbine is a pilot program, and Minty said Devon Energy will analyze results before making any further decisions.