SANTIAGO, Chile, May 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Total and SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWR) today announced that SunPower has signed a power purchase agreement for the supply of 300 gigawatt hours per year of clean solar energy to Metro of Santiago. With this agreement, Metro of Santiago will become the first public transportation system in the world to run mostly on solar energy. Metro of Santiago currently serves 2.2 million passengers per day.
The power will be generated from the El Pelícano Solar Project, a 100-megawatt (AC) project near the municipalities of La Higuera (Coquimbo Region) and Vallenar (Atacama Region). Construction of the solar power plant will begin this year, with expected operation by the end of 2017.
"This contract is expressing Chile's commitment for a sustainable world. We are proud to partner with Metro in developing a new way of powering public transportation systems through competitive, reliable and clean energy. This project supports our ambition to become the responsible energy major," says Bernard Clément, senior vice president of Business & Operations, of the New Energies division of Total.
"SunPower is proud to serve Metro of Santiago's growing energy demand with cost-competitive, renewable solar power," said Eduardo Medina, executive vice president, global power plants, SunPower. "Solar is an ideal energy source for Chile because of the country's high solar resource and transparent energy policies. In partnership with Total, SunPower is committed to the continued growth of our business in Chile."
SunPower, a leading global solar technology company and an affiliate of Total, will design and build the project and provide operations and maintenance once it is operational. The company will construct a SunPower® Oasis® power plant system at the site. The Oasis system is a fully-integrated, modular solar power block that is engineered for rapid and cost-effective deployment of utility-scale solar projects while optimizing land use. The technology includes robotic solar panel cleaning capability that uses 75 percent less water than traditional cleaning methods and can help improve system performance by up to 15 percent.
About Total
Total is a global integrated energy producer and provider, a leading international oil and gas company, and the world's second-ranked solar energy operator with SunPower. Our 96,000 employees are committed to better energy that is safer, cleaner, more efficient, more innovative and accessible to as many people as possible. As a responsible corporate citizen, we focus on ensuring that our operations in more than 130 countries worldwide consistently deliver economic, social and environmental benefits. total-chile.cl or total.com
About SunPower
As one of the world's most innovative and sustainable energy companies, SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWR) provides a diverse group of customers with complete solar solutions and services. Residential customers, businesses, governments, schools and utilities around the globe rely on SunPower's more than 30 years of proven experience. From the first flip of the switch, SunPower delivers maximum value and superb performance throughout the long life of every solar system. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, SunPower has dedicated customer-focused employees in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. For more information about how SunPower is changing the way our world is powered, 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 expected project timelines, projected energy output, and expected cost savings. 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: regulatory changes and the availability of economic incentives promoting use of solar energy; challenges inherent in constructing and maintaining certain of our large projects; maintaining or increasing our manufacturing capacity, containing associated costs, and manufacturing difficulties that could arise; challenges managing our joint ventures and partnerships;and fluctuations or declines in the performance of our solar panels and other products and solutions. 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.
©2016 SunPower Corporation. All Rights Reserved. SUNPOWER, the SUNPOWER logo and OASIS are trademarks or registered trademarks of SunPower Corporation in Chile, in the U.S. and other countries as well.
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SOURCE SunPower Corp.