TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - June 23, 2010) - Macquarie Power & Infrastructure Income Fund (TSX:MPT.UN)(TSX:MPT.DB.A) ("MPT") and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWRA)(NASDAQ:SPWRB) ("SunPower") today announced an agreement for MPT to acquire a 20-megawatt ("MW") solar photovoltaic ("PV") power project (the "Amherstburg Solar Park") in Amherstburg, Ontario to be designed, built and operated on behalf of MPT by SunPower.
The approximate $130 million project will be primarily funded by a syndicate of international lenders with approximately $33 million of equity to be contributed by MPT upon the start of commercial operations, which is anticipated to be in June 2011. When completed, the Amherstburg Solar Park will be one of the largest solar power facilities in Canada and is expected to produce approximately 37,600 megawatt hours ("MWh") of electricity annually, which is enough to power approximately 4,000 homes. Construction of the Amherstburg Solar Park is expected to start immediately using local resources and is expected to create up to 100 jobs in the County of Essex.
"The Amherstburg Solar Park is an excellent addition to MPT's existing portfolio of low-risk, stable power infrastructure assets. It also offers important environmental and local economic benefits while supporting the Province of Ontario's green energy mandate," said Michael Bernstein, president and chief executive officer of MPT. "SunPower's solar power expertise and superior technology, plant design and construction are proven globally. When completed, the Amherstburg Solar Park will contribute to MPT's long-term cash flow stability."
SunPower will complete the Amherstburg Solar Park under a fixed-price engineering, procurement and construction contract. SunPower will also provide operations and maintenance services for the facility under a 20-year contract. Electricity generated by the facility will be sold under the Province of Ontario's Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program to the Ontario Power Authority at a guaranteed price of $420 per MWh for the next 20 years. For the first two years of commercial operations, SunPower will financially support the performance of the facility at the expected production.
"We are delighted to partner with MPT to help Ontario meet its growing electricity demand with clean, locally produced power," said Howard Wenger, president, utilities and power plants, for SunPower. "SunPower's high efficiency photovoltaic technology is competitively priced for electric utility power plant applications, fast to install and reliably delivers clean power during peak demand periods."
SunPower has more than 300 MW of solar PV power plants operating globally today, including the largest operating solar PV plant in the United States, the 25 MW DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Centre in Florida. The Amherstburg Solar Park will use SunPower high-efficiency solar panels, which generate up to 50 percent more electricity than conventional solar panels and up to four times as much power as thin-film solar technology. The Amherstburg Solar Park will also use the proprietary single-axis SunPower® Tracker T20 system, which is engineered to follow the sun during the day, increasing daily energy production by up to 30 percent more than fixed-tilt installations thereby improving the economics of solar power and reducing land-use requirements. SunPower tracking systems have proven their operational performance over a wide range of weather conditions, including winter environments.
Solar power is a 100 percent renewable energy source without noise pollution or harmful emissions. By reducing the purchase of fossil fuel-generated electricity, the electricity generated by the project each year will reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by approximately 27,0031 tonnes, which is the equivalent of the greenhouse gas emissions from more than 5,000 passenger vehicles each year.
"SunPower is very pleased to have completed the financing on this important project, underscoring the bankability of our experience and established technology," said Jean Wilson, vice president and general manager of North American utility and power plants at SunPower. "Today, high-efficiency solar PV technology is competitively priced for power plant applications. Financiers understand that these parks make good business sense while serving local communities with clean, renewable power."
1 Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's green power equivalency calculator
Conference Call
MPT will hold a conference call at 4:15 p.m. Toronto time today to discuss the project. The conference call will be accessible via webcast on MPT's website at www.macquarie.com/mpt and by telephone at 416-340-8018 (Canada) or 1-866-223-7781 (North America). A replay of the call will be available until July 6, 2010 by dialling 416-695-5800 or 1-800-408-3053 and entering the passcode 5464124.
About Macquarie Power & Infrastructure Income Fund
Macquarie Power & Infrastructure Income Fund's mandate is to invest in core infrastructure businesses in Canada and internationally. MPT aims to acquire and actively manage a high quality portfolio of long-life infrastructure businesses that will generate sustainable, long-term distributions and an attractive total return for investors. MPT's portfolio currently includes investments in gas cogeneration, wind, hydro and biomass power generating facilities, representing approximately 350 MW of installed capacity. MPT is managed by an affiliate of Macquarie Group Limited. Please visit www.macquarie.com/mpt for additional information.
About SunPower
Founded in 1985, SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWRA)(NASDAQ:SPWRB) designs, manufactures and delivers the planet's most powerful solar technology broadly available today. Residential, business, government and utility customers rely on the company's experience and proven results to maximize return on investment. With headquarters in San Jose, Calif., SunPower has offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. For more information, visit www.sunpowercorp.com.
MPT's Disclaimer
Macquarie Power & Infrastructure Income Fund is not an authorised deposit taking institution for the purposes of the Banking Act (Cth) 1959 and Macquarie Power & Infrastructure Income Fund's obligations do not represent deposits or other liabilities of Macquarie Bank Limited ABN 46 008 583 542 (MBL). MBL does not guarantee or otherwise provide assurance in respect of the obligations of Macquarie Power & Infrastructure Income Fund.
This news release is not an offer or invitation for subscription or purchase of or a recommendation of securities. It does not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs of the investor. Before making an investment in the Fund, the investor or prospective investor should consider whether such an investment is appropriate to their particular investment needs, objectives and financial circumstances and consult our investment adviser if necessary.
Certain of the statements contained in this news release are forward-looking and reflect management's expectations regarding the Fund's future growth, results of operations, performance and business based on information currently available to the Fund. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of presenting information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. These statements use forward-looking words, such as "anticipate", "continue", "could", "expect", "may", "will", "estimate", "believe" or other similar words.
These statements are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements and, accordingly, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. The forward-looking statements in this news release are based on information currently available and what the Fund currently believes are reasonable assumptions, including the material assumptions for each of the Fund's assets set out in the Fund's 2009 Annual Report under the heading "Outlook" on page 42, as updated in subsequently filed Quarterly Financial Reports of the Fund (such documents are available on the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Review ("SEDAR") at www.sedar.com). Other material factors or assumptions that were applied in formulating the forward-looking statements contained herein include the assumption that the business and economic conditions affecting the Fund's operations will continue substantially in their current state, including, with respect to industry conditions, general levels of economic activity, regulations, weather, taxes and interest rates and that there will be no unplanned material changes to the Fund's facilities, equipment and contractual arrangements. Although the Fund believes that it has a reasonable basis for the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements, actual results may differ from those suggested by the forward-looking statements for various reasons, including risks related to: power infrastructure (operational performance; power purchase agreements; fuel; contract performance; default under credit agreements; land tenure and related rights; regulatory regime and permits and force majeure) and the Fund (changes in federal tax rules for flow through entities; other tax related risks; variability of distributions; geographic concentration and non-diversification; dependence on the Manager and potential conflicts of interest; insurance; environmental, health and safety regime; availability of financing; unitholder dilution; volatile market price for units; international financial reporting standards; nature of units; unitholder liability). For a more comprehensive description of these and other possible risks, please see the Fund's Annual Information Form dated March 25, 2010 for the year ended December 31, 2009 as updated in subsequently filed Quarterly Financial Reports and other filings of the Fund with the Canadian securities regulators. These filings are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The assumptions, risks and uncertainties described above are not exhaustive and other events and risk factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results and events discussed in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect current expectations of the Fund as at the date of this news release and speak only as at the date of this news release. The Fund does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements except as may be required by applicable law.
SunPower's Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that do not represent historical facts and may be based on underlying assumptions. The company uses words and phrases such as "will," "to be," "anticipated," and "expected" to identify forward-looking statements in this press release, including forward-looking statements regarding: (a) size of the power project relative to other projects in Canada; (b) schedule of design, construction and commercial operations for the project; © electricity generation and performance guaranties; (d) environmental benefits; and (e) job creation and other economic benefits. Such forward-looking statements are based on information available to the company as of the date of this release and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some beyond the company's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements, including risks and uncertainties such as: (i) unanticipated construction difficulties or potential delays in the project implementation process, including securing necessary permits, licenses or other governmental approvals; (ii) the risk of continuation of supply of products and components from suppliers; (iii) unanticipated problems with deploying the system on the site; (iv) actual electricity generation; (v) the actual energy consumption rate; (vi) unexpected changes in utility service rates; (vii) variations in carbon dioxide emissions reductions; (viii) the continuation of governmental and related economic incentives promoting the use of solar power; and (x) other risks described in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 3, 2010, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the company's views as of any subsequent date, and the company is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any responsibility to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts: Macquarie Power & Infrastructure Income Fund Sarah Borg-Olivier(416) 607-5009 or Cell: (416) 568-1329 sarah.borg-olivier@macquarie.com SunPower Corporation Ingrid Ekstrom (510) 260-8368 or Cell: (415) 531-2250 Ingrid.ekstrom@sunpowercorp.com