Altus Power and Heliene Establish Strategic Partnership to Support U.S. Solar Module Manufacturing

STAMFORD, Conn. and SAULT STE. MARIE, ON, Feb. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Altus Power, Inc. (NYSE: AMPS) (together with its affiliates, "Altus Power"), a leading clean electrification company, and Heliene Inc. (together with its affiliates, "Heliene"), a customer-first provider of North American made solar modules, today announced a strategic partnership to support solar module manufacturing in the United States. 

Under the terms of a three-year strategic supply agreement, Altus Power will have the option to purchase up to 250 MW of high efficiency solar modules from Heliene, securing Altus Power reliable access to domestically manufactured high performance solar modules for use in construction of solar generation projects across the U.S. At a time of supply chain bottlenecks and trade volatility, which challenge the U.S. industry's ability to meet rapidly growing solar demand, this agreement is designed to enable Altus Power to continue to deliver commercial, industrial, and community solar projects with the added value of Made in America solar PV modules. 

In connection with the execution of the multi-year supply agreement, Altus Power has committed to invest up to US$5 million in Heliene as part of that company's anticipated initial public capital raise in connection with its proposed reverse take-over transaction with Buzz Capital 2 Ltd. and listing on the TSX Venture Exchange.

"Many U.S. solar developers are currently facing supply and trade volatility risks, causing potential project delays," said Martin Pochtaruk, CEO of Heliene. "We are pleased to partner with our customer Altus Power to help them develop the projects in their pipeline with confidence, as it's our mission to accelerate North America's clean energy transition. Altus Power's proposed investment in Heliene enables us to better capitalize on growing demand for domestic solar products and make good on our commitment to generate more well-paying manufacturing jobs in the U.S."

Heliene's modules are to be produced at the company's recently expanded manufacturing facility in Mountain Iron, Minnesota. These modules utilize the latest super high-efficiency monocrystalline PERC cells, which reduce cell-to-module losses through their half cut design, and are proven to withstand weather and mechanical stresses. Serving the utility-scale, commercial & industrial (C&I), and residential markets, Heliene has three production facilities located in the U.S. and Canada, which are expected to total 900 MW of total manufacturing capacity and are planned to be online by Q3 of 2022.

"We are excited to be entering into this strategic partnership with Heliene. Domestic made equipment and materials are becoming an increasingly important component of our procurement efforts and this supply certainty will be significant to our total module requirements," said Tony Savino, Co-Founder and Chief Construction Officer of Altus Power. "Altus Power is the only public, vertically integrated, C&I focused clean electrification company, and we build, own, and operate hundreds of commercial and industrial scale solar projects across the United States. Many components go into the design and buildout of these solar systems, and having a reliable, steady supply of solar modules is critical to our growth strategy. We look forward to continuing to partner with manufacturers of various solar system components, to enable Altus Power to maintain our leadership position in empowering communities and enterprises to transition to renewable energy."

About Altus Power
Altus Power, based in Stamford, Connecticut, is the nation's premier clean electrification company. Altus Power serves its commercial, industrial, public sector and community solar customers by developing, owning and operating locally sited solar generation, energy storage, and EV charging infrastructure across 18 states from Vermont to Hawaii. Visit altuspower.com to learn more.

About Heliene
Heliene is one of North America's fastest-growing domestic module manufacturers serving the utility-scale, commercial, and residential markets. With an in-house logistics team and remarkably responsive support staff, Heliene delivers competitively priced, high performance solar modules precisely when and where customers need them to accelerate North America's clean energy transition. Founded in 2010, Heliene is recognized as a highly bankable Tier 1 module manufacturer and has production facilities located in Ontario, Minnesota and Florida. For more information, visit www.heliene.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "could", "continue", "expect", "estimate", "may", "plan", "outlook", "future" and "project" and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable and may also relate to Altus Power's future prospects, developments and business strategies. These statements are based on Altus Power's management's current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events.

Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside Altus Power's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors include, but are not limited to: (1) the ability of Altus Power to maintain its listing on the New York Stock Exchange; (2) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the recently completed business combination and related transactions (the "Transactions"), which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of Altus Power to grow and manage growth profitably, maintain relationships with customers, business partners, suppliers and agents and retain its management and key employees; (3) costs related to the Transactions; (4) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (5) the possibility that Altus Power may be adversely affected by other economic, business, regulatory and/or competitive factors; (6) the impact of COVID-19 on Altus Power's business; and (7) the failure to realize anticipated pro forma results and underlying assumptions related to the Transactions.

Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements can be found under the heading "Risk Factors" in Altus Power's Prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 21, 2022, as well as the other information we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect us. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made, and Altus Power undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, changes in expectations, future events or otherwise.

This press release is not intended to be all-inclusive or to contain all the information that a person may desire in considering an investment in Altus Power and is not intended to form the basis of an investment decision in Altus Power. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning Altus Power or other matters and attributable to Altus Power or any person acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Completion of Heliene's proposed reverse take-over transaction with Buzz Capital 2 Ltd. and listing on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Qualifying Transaction") is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSXV acceptance. There can be no assurance that the Qualifying Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

The TSXV has not in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed Qualifying Transaction and neither has approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Altus Power Contacts

For Media:
Cory Ziskind
ICR, Inc.
[email protected]

For Investors:
Caldwell Bailey
ICR, Inc.
[email protected]

Heliene Contacts

Annika Harper
Antenna Group for Heliene
[email protected]

SOURCE Altus Power, Inc.

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