Capstone Infrastructure and Sunpower Hold Dedication Ceremony at Amherstburg Solar Park
TORONTO, ONTARIO, Jul. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Capstone Infrastructure Corporation (TSX: CSE; CSE.DB.A; CSE.PR.A) and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA, SPWRB) will celebrate the completion of the 20-megawatt ("MW") Amherstburg Solar Park at a dedication ceremony today in Amherstburg, Ontario.
"The completion of the Amherstburg Solar Park marks an important milestone for Capstone Infrastructure as our first development project and our first solar power facility," said Michael Bernstein, president and chief executive officer, Capstone Infrastructure Corporation. "We are proud of the quality of the Amherstburg Solar Park and the contribution it will make to renewable energy in the Province of Ontario. We are also delighted to be part of the local community."
The facility, which commenced commercial operations on June 30, 2011, is one of the largest solar power installations in Canada and is expected to produce enough green electricity annually to power approximately 4,000 homes. It was designed and built by SunPower, a world leader in solar power systems.
"We are delighted to partner with Capstone Infrastructure to help Ontario meet its growing electricity demand with clean, locally produced power," said Howard Wenger, president of SunPower's utility and power plants group. "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."
The Amherstburg Solar Park features SunPower's high-efficiency solar photovoltaic 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 solar panels are installed on SunPower's proprietary single-axis T20 Tracker system, which positions the panels to follow the sun during the day, increasing daily energy production by up to 30 percent over conventional fixed-tilt installations. Electricity generated by the facility will be sold to the Ontario Power Authority under the Province of Ontario's Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program at a guaranteed price for the next 20 years.
Amherstburg Solar Park Facts
- Number of solar panels: 57,906
- Number of trackers: 6,434
- Geographic footprint of facility: approximately 1 square kilometre
- Number of jobs created during construction: approximately 100
- Estimated contribution to carbon dioxide ("CO2") emissions reduction: electricity generated by the project each year will reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 27,0031 tonnes or the equivalent of the greenhouse gas emissions from more than 5,000 passenger vehicles each year.
About Capstone Infrastructure Corporation
Capstone Infrastructure Corporation's mission is to build and responsibly manage a high quality portfolio of infrastructure businesses in Canada and internationally in order to deliver a superior total return to shareholders through a combination of stable dividends and capital appreciation. The Corporation's portfolio currently includes investments in gas cogeneration, wind, hydro, biomass and solar power generating facilities, representing approximately 370 MW of installed capacity, and a 33.3% interest in a district heating business in Sweden. Please visit www.capstoneinfrastructure.com for more information.
About SunPower
SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA, SPWRB) 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 and Asia. For more information, visit www.sunpowercorp.com.
Capstone Infrastructure Corporation's (the "Corporation") Notice to Readers
Certain of the statements contained in this news release are forward-looking and reflect management's expectations regarding the Corporation's future growth, results of operations, performance and business based on information currently available to the Corporation. 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 Corporation currently believes are reasonable assumptions, including the material assumptions for each of the Corporation's assets set out in its fiscal 2010 Annual Report under the heading "Asset Performance" as updated in subsequently filed Quarterly Financial Reports of the Corporation and other filings made by the Corporation with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities (such documents are available on the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("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 Corporation'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 Corporation's facilities, equipment or contractual arrangements.
Although the Corporation 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 costs and supply; contract performance; development risk; technology risk; default under credit agreements; land tenure and related rights; regulatory regime and permits; environmental, health and safety; climate change and the environment; and force majeure) and the Corporation (tax-related risks; variability and payment of dividends, which are not guaranteed; geographic concentration and non-diversification; insurance; environmental, health and safety regime; availability of financing; shareholder dilution; and the unpredictability and volatility of the common share price of the Corporation). There are also a number of risks related to the Corporation's investment in the district heating business in Sweden, including: fuel costs and availability; industrial and residential contracts; geographic concentration; regulatory environment; environmental, health and safety; reliance on key personnel; labour relations; assumption of liabilities; minority interest; and foreign exchange. There is also a risk that Värmevärden may not achieve expected results.
For a more comprehensive description of these and other possible risks, please see the Corporation's Annual Information Form dated March 24, 2011 for the year ended December 31, 2010 as updated in subsequently filed Quarterly Financial Reports and other filings made by the Corporation with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities. These filings are available on SEDAR. 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 Corporation as at the date of this news release and speak only as at the date of this news release. Except as may be required by law, the Corporation does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
1 Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's green power equivalency calculator