AE-AMD Renewable Energy And Tenesol/SunPower Begin Work On Two Solar Projects In South Africa

Projects are Part of Government's IPP Procurement Program

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Dec 20, 2012, 12:05 ET

JOHANNESBURG and SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AE-AMD Renewable Energy, a joint venture between the Spanish AMDA energia and the South African Alt-E Technologies, and Tenesol, a SunPower company (NASDAQ: SPWR), today announced two South African ground-mounted solar power projects totaling 33 megawatts (MW). Both projects, which Tenesol will construct, are located near Douglas, South Africa in the Northern Cape Province.

Herbert, a 22-MW project, has begun construction, and groundbreaking for the 11-MW Greefspan project will begin in the coming weeks. They are both part of the South African government's Independent Power Producers Procurement Program and completion for both projects is expected in the second quarter of 2014. The last step in financing took place on Nov. 16 when final agreements were signed-off by the South African Department of Energy.

"SunPower's successful track record of building solar power plants around the world, coupled with Tenesol's historic presence in South Africa, will positively impact this region," said SunPower Regions President Howard Wenger. "These two solar power projects will generate local construction jobs and deliver clean, reliable energy to the community."

Both systems will be owned by AE-AMD Renewable Energy in partnership with the IDEAS Fund, an infrastructure fund managed by Old Mutual Investment Group of South Africa that will also resell the electricity to Eskom upon completion of the projects. Tenesol has a five percent share in the two projects.

The ground-mounted solar systems will feature 138,000 Tenesol TE 240 photovoltaic solar panels on single-axis trackers. The solar panels are being produced at the Cape Town manufacturing facility which has been in operation for more than a decade, and has 3BBBEE rating.

About Tenesol and SunPower
For more than 28 years, Tenesol has been engineering, designing, manufacturing, installing and operating solar energy systems. Its services cover systems that produce or consume the energy they generate (off-grid sites, electricity grid connected, solar water heating) for customers around the globe. In January, Tenesol was acquired by SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR).

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.sunpowercorp.co.za

SunPower Forward-Looking Statements
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. SunPower uses words and phrases such as "will" "expected" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements, including statements regarding: (a) Tenesol building two solar power projects totaling 33 megawatts (MW); (b) the commencement of construction of the Greefspan project; (c) completion of the projects in second quarter 2014; and (d) Eskom purchasing the power produced after completion. Such forward-looking statements are based on information available to SunPower as of the date of this press release and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some beyond SunPower'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) construction difficulties or potential delays in the project implementation process, including transmission access and upgrades; (ii) unanticipated delays or difficulties securing necessary permits, licenses or other governmental approvals, including approval of the contracts by government agencies, and completing all environmental review and permits; (iii) the continuation of existing and enactment of new economic incentives promoting the use of solar power; (iv) the significant investment required to construct power plants and the company's ability to sell or otherwise monetize power plants and recognize revenue; (v) the inability to obtain financing necessary to complete the construction of the projects; (vi) the risk of continuation of supply of products and components from suppliers; (vii) unanticipated problems with deploying the systems on the sites; (viii) actual electricity generation and ability to sell the energy to Eskom; and (ix) other risks described in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 1, 2012 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended April 1, 2012, July 1, 2012 and September 30, 2012, 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.

SOURCE SunPower Corp.