TransCanada: National Energy Board Approves Horn River Pipeline Project

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Feb. 4, 2011) - TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) (NYSE:TRP) (TransCanada) announced that its Horn River pipeline project has received regulatory approval from the National Energy Board.

TransCanada expects British Columbia (B.C.) shale gas supplies to climb to more than five billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) by the end of the decade and the Horn River pipeline will be the company's second major pipeline connecting its Alberta System with this prolific supply. The first extension of the Alberta System into B.C. was the Groundbirch pipeline, which came into service in December 2010.

"TransCanada's Horn River pipeline will provide a second direct point of access to the growing shale gas supplies in northeast B.C.," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and chief executive officer. "This new pipeline will provide our customers with safe and reliable access to the Alberta System and downstream markets, and we look forward to bringing this project into service by the second quarter of 2012."

TransCanada's approximately $310 million, 155-kilometre Horn River pipeline consists of a new 36-inch pipeline and acquisition of an existing 24-inch pipeline. The project will provide firm service for Alberta System gas transportation contracts that grow to over 630 million cubic feet per day by 2014.

Horn River and Groundbirch shippers have committed to Alberta System transportation contracts that will reach 1.9 bcf/d by 2014. This will help offset the recent decline in conventional Western Canada Sedimentary Basin volumes and contribute to higher throughput and lower tolls on downstream pipelines including the Canadian Mainline.

TransCanada has put into service six major projects in the last 10 months. The Keystone Pipeline System Phase 1 is delivering oil; the North Central Corridor, Groundbirch and Bison natural gas pipelines are all moving gas to market; Maine's largest wind project – Kibby Wind – became fully operational in late October; and the Halton Hills Generating Station in Ontario began producing power in the fall of 2010.

TransCanada will continue bringing large-scale projects into service in the coming months including Keystone Phase 2, the Coolidge Generating Station in Arizona and the Guadalajara natural gas pipeline in Mexico. 

With more than 50 years' experience, TransCanada is a leader in the responsible development and reliable operation of North American energy infrastructure including natural gas and oil pipelines, power generation and gas storage facilities. TransCanada's network of wholly owned natural gas pipelines extends more than 60,000 kilometres (37,000 miles), tapping into virtually all major gas supply basins in North America. TransCanada is one of the continent's largest providers of gas storage and related services with approximately 380 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. A growing independent power producer, TransCanada owns, or has interests in, over 10,800 megawatts of power generation in Canada and the United States. TransCanada is developing one of North America's largest oil delivery systems. TransCanada's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol TRP. For more information visit: www.transcanada.com.

TRANSCANADA FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release may contain certain information that is forward looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "may", "should", "estimate", "project", "outlook", "forecast" or other similar words are used to identify such forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements in this document are intended to provide TransCanada securityholders and potential investors with information regarding TransCanada and its subsidiaries, including management's assessment of TransCanada's and its subsidiaries' future financial and operations plans and outlook. Forward-looking statements in this document may include, among others, statements regarding the anticipated business prospects, projects and financial performance of TransCanada and its subsidiaries, expectations or projections about the future, and strategies and goals for growth and expansion. All forward-looking statements reflect TransCanada's beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the statements were made. Actual results or events may differ from those predicted in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, the ability of TransCanada to successfully implement its strategic initiatives and whether such strategic initiatives will yield the expected benefits, the operating performance of TransCanada's pipeline and energy assets, the availability and price of energy commodities, capacity payments, regulatory processes and decisions, changes in environmental and other laws and regulations, competitive factors in the pipeline and energy sectors, construction and completion of capital projects, labour, equipment and material costs, access to capital markets, interest and currency exchange rates, technological developments and economic conditions in North America. By its nature, forward-looking information is subject to various risks and uncertainties, which could cause TransCanada's actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed. Additional information on these and other factors is available in the reports filed by TransCanada with Canadian securities regulators and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed in this news release or otherwise, and to not use future-oriented information or financial outlooks for anything other than their intended purpose. TransCanada undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.