Vistra's Emerald Grove Solar Facility is Now Online, Providing Texas with Emission-Free Power

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Jun 07, 2022, 13:00 ET

Project expands company's growing portfolio of zero-carbon power generation facilities

IRVING, Texas, June 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vistra (NYSE: VST) today announced its Emerald Grove Solar Facility in Crane County, Texas, is online and generating electricity for summer. The 108-megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) project is the third of seven new renewable and energy storage projects Vistra is bringing online across Texas over the next few years and the latest addition to the company's portfolio of zero-carbon power generation assets, known as Vistra Zero.

Vistra Zero projects completed and online in spring 2022 include:

Brightside Solar Facility, Live Oak County, TX – 50 MW
DeCordova Energy Storage Facility, Hood County, TX – 260 MW/260 MWh
Emerald Grove Solar Facility, Crane County, TX – 108 MW

Together with its existing emission-free generation assets, including the most efficient nuclear plant in the country – Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, these projects bring the company's zero-carbon Vistra Zero portfolio to nearly 3,300 MW online, with plans to grow to more than 7,300 MW by 2026.

"With our Emerald Grove Solar Facility now online, Vistra has taken another important step in transitioning our fleet to cleaner electric generation," said Curt Morgan, CEO of Vistra. "In the two years since announcing a nearly $1 billion capital investment within ERCOT, our teams have executed with precision despite the challenges that exist today. We've shown that we can deliver the green energy alternatives many retail customers are looking for while providing affordable and reliable electricity to the growing Texas population."

Situated on 1,100 acres in Crane County, Emerald Grove is comprised of 316,416 photovoltaic solar panels that can generate enough electricity to power approximately 54,000 average residences in the ERCOT market during normal grid conditions. The facility's west Texas location allows the panels to take advantage of higher solar irradiance levels, increasing output just as demand climbs across the state.

"Emerald Grove is coming online in time to power Texas through what's predicted to be a record-breaking summer for energy use," said Jim Burke, Vistra president and chief financial officer. "Vistra's diverse set of power generation facilities allow us to combine battery storage and renewables, such as Emerald Grove, with dispatchable generation to provide lower-carbon, reliable electricity while maintaining grid resilience."

Emerald Grove Solar Facility utilizes solar panel technology from First Solar; Mortenson provided engineering and construction expertise.

For more information on Vistra Zero, click here.

About Vistra
Vistra (NYSE: VST) is a leading Fortune 500 integrated retail electricity and power generation company based in Irving, Texas, providing essential resources for customers, commerce, and communities. Vistra combines an innovative, customer-centric approach to retail with safe, reliable, diverse, and efficient power generation. The company brings its products and services to market in 20 states and the District of Columbia, including six of the seven competitive wholesale markets in the U.S. and markets in Canada, as well. Serving nearly 4.3 million residential, commercial, and industrial retail customers with electricity and natural gas, Vistra is one of the largest competitive electricity providers in the country and offers over 50 renewable energy plans. The company is also the largest competitive power generator in the U.S. with a capacity of approximately 39,000 megawatts powered by a diverse portfolio, including natural gas, nuclear, solar, and battery energy storage facilities. In addition, Vistra is a large purchaser of wind power. The company owns and operates the 400-MW/1,600-MWh battery energy storage system in Moss Landing, California, the largest of its kind in the world. Vistra is guided by four core principles: we do business the right way, we work as a team, we compete to win, and we care about our stakeholders, including our customers, our communities where we work and live, our employees, and our investors. Learn more about our environmental, social, and governance efforts and read the company's sustainability report at https://www.vistracorp.com/sustainability/.

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The information presented herein includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the industry and markets in which Vistra Corp. ("Vistra") operates and beliefs of and assumptions made by Vistra's management, involve risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict and are not guarantees of future performance, that could significantly affect the financial results of Vistra. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, that are presented herein, or in response to questions or otherwise, that address activities, events or developments that may occur in the future, including such matters as activities related to our financial or operational projections, the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, projected synergy, value lever and net debt targets, capital allocation, capital expenditures, liquidity, projected Adjusted EBITDA to free cash flow conversion rate, dividend policy, business strategy, competitive strengths, goals, future acquisitions or dispositions, development or operation of power generation assets, market and industry developments and the growth of our businesses and operations (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases, or the negative variations of those words or other comparable words of a future or forward-looking nature, including, but not limited to: "intends," "plans," "will likely," "unlikely," "believe," "confident", "expect," "seek," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "will," "shall," "should," "could," "may," "might," "predict," "project," "forecast," "target," "potential," "goal," "objective," "guidance" and "outlook"),are forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although Vistra believes that in making any such forward-looking statement, Vistra's expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any such forward-looking statement involves uncertainties and risks that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in or implied by any such forward-looking statement, including, but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions (including changes in interest rates) or changes in political conditions or federal or state laws and regulations; (ii) the ability of Vistra to execute upon its contemplated strategic, capital allocation, performance, and cost-saving initiatives and to successfully integrate acquired businesses; (iii) actions by credit ratings agencies; (iv) the severity, magnitude and duration of pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting effects on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows; (v) the severity, magnitude and duration of extreme weather events (including Winter Storm Uri), contingencies and uncertainties relating thereto, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control, and the resulting effects on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows; and (vi) those additional risks and factors discussed in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Vistra from time to time, including the uncertainties and risks discussed in the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" in Vistra's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only at the date on which it is made, and except as may be required by law, Vistra will not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all of them; nor can Vistra assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.

SOURCE Vistra Corp.