JOHANNESBURG and SAN JOSE, Calif., June 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR), a global solar technology and energy services company, and AE-AMD Renewable Energy, a joint venture between the Spanish AMDA energía and the South African Alt-E Technologies, as well as its partners have completed two South African ground-mounted solar projects and are now feeding 33 megawatts (MW) into the grid. Both projects, which were constructed by SunPower, are located near Douglas, South Africa in the Northern Cape Province.
Herbert, a 22-MW project, and the 11-MW Greefspan project, were both part of the South African government's Independent Power Producers Procurement Program. The projects jointly sit on more than 160 hectares, or 395 acres, of land and feature 138,000 photovoltaic solar panels on single-axis trackers. The trackers are programmed to follow the sun throughout the day, ensuring that the maximum amount of power is being generated.
Both systems are owned by AE-AMD Renewable Energy and its partners, including the IDEAS Fund, an infrastructure fund managed by Old Mutual Investment Group of South Africa. Electricity generated from the solar power projects will be sold to Eskom.
"The successful completion of these projects, on time, demonstrates what can be achieved with committed and professional partners," said Piero Granelli, AE-AMD CEO. "The projects not only help to alleviate pressure on the country's power supply, but also provide much needed support to the local communities over the lifetime of the plants."
"With the completion of the Herbert and Greefspan projects, SunPower continues its track record of building highly efficient and reliable solar power plants around the globe," said Howard Wenger, SunPower president, regions. "We're now looking forward to continuing our efforts in South Africa as we prepare to begin work on an even larger solar power project in Prieska."
SunPower's majority shareholder, Total, along with Mulilo Renewable Energy and other partners, were selected as preferred bidders for an 86-MW project in Prieska, by South Africa's Department of Energy in the third round of the Independent Power Producers Procurement Program. SunPower is expected to provide Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) services, as well as long-term Operation and Maintenance (O&M) for the project.
The capacity of power plants in this release is described in approximate megawatts on a direct current (dc) basis.
About SunPower
SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) designs, manufactures and delivers the highest efficiency, highest reliability solar panels and systems available today. Residential, business, government and utility customers rely on the company's quarter century of experience and guaranteed performance to provide maximum return on investment throughout the life of the solar system. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., SunPower has offices in North America, Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia. For more information, visit www.sunpower.com.
SunPower's Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements regarding our plans and objectives for existing and future project development and construction. These forward-looking statements are based on our current assumptions, expectations and beliefs and involve substantial risks and uncertainties that may cause results, performance or achievement to materially differ from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: (1) competition in the industry and downward pressure on average selling prices; (2) our liquidity, substantial indebtedness, and our ability to obtain additional financing for our projects and our customers; (3) our ability to meet our cost reduction targets; (4) regulatory changes and the availability of economic incentives promoting use of solar energy; (5) challenges inherent in constructing and maintaining certain of our large projects, such as the Herbert and Greefspan projects; (6) the success of our ongoing research and development efforts and commercialization of new products and services; (7) fluctuations in our operating results; (8) manufacturing difficulties that could arise; and (9) challenges managing our joint ventures. A detailed discussion of these factors and other risks that affect our business is included in filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from time to time, including our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, particularly under the heading "Risk Factors." Copies of these filings are available online from the SEC or on the SEC Filings section of our Investor Relations website at investors.sunpowercorp.com. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information currently available to us, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.
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SOURCE SunPower Corp.