NRG Energy Signs Letter of Intent to Acquire South Trent Wind Farm
Princeton, New Jersey, United States March 4, 2010

    Fourth west Texas wind farm would bring NRG’s wind portfolio to approximately 450 megawatts
NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) has signed a binding letter of intent to purchase the South Trent wind farm near Sweetwater, Texas. The 101 megawatt (MW) wind farm, which came online in January 2009, consists of 44 Siemens 2.3 MW wind turbines capable, at maximum capacity, of powering more than 80,000 homes.

“South Trent is a proven performer and, as a renewable asset with a long term sales agreement with a highly credible offtaker, is indicative of the type of renewable project in which we are looking to invest in our core markets,” said David Crane, NRG President and Chief Executive Officer. “We will continue to look both to develop and acquire contracted land-based and offshore wind projects as well as solar and other sustainable technology-based assets where it makes sense as we expand our clean energy portfolio.”

AEP Energy Partners, Inc. has a 20-year power purchase agreement for all of the generation from the site.

The proposed acquisition must be approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT). As a result of the PUCT approval requirement and pending satisfaction of certain other conditions precedent, the acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.

Upon successful conclusion of the acquisition, South Trent will become the fourth plant in NRG’s onshore wind portfolio. NRG owns and operates the 120 MW Elbow Creek wind farm near Big Spring, Texas and the 150 MW Langford wind farm near San Angelo, Texas. NRG is also a 50% owner of the 150 MW Sherbino wind farm near Fort Stockton, Texas operated by BP Alternative Energy, North America. NRG’s low- and no-carbon operating assets, as well as assets in development, include new nuclear, photovoltaic solar and solar thermal, onshore and offshore wind, biomass and a commercial-scale carbon capture project for fossil-fueled generation.

NRG Energy, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, owns and operates one of the country’s largest and most diverse power generation portfolios. Headquartered in Princeton, NJ, the Company’s power plants provide more than 24,000 megawatts of generation capacity—enough to supply more than 20 million homes. NRG’s retail business, Reliant Energy, serves more than 1.6 million residential, business, commercial and industrial customers in Texas.

A past recipient of the energy industry’s highest honors—Platts Industry Leadership and Energy Company of the Year awards, NRG is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a group of business and environmental organizations calling for mandatory legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Safe Harbor Disclosure

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions and include NRG’s expectations regarding the South Trent wind farm and forward-looking statements typically can be identified by the use of words such as “will,” “expect,” “believe,” and similar terms. Although NRG believes that its expectations are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct, and actual results may vary materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated above include, among others, general economic conditions, hazards customary in the power industry, weather conditions, competition in wholesale power markets, the volatility of energy and fuel prices, failure of customers to perform under contracts, changes in the wholesale power markets, changes in government regulation of markets and of environmental emissions, unanticipated outages at our generation facilities, the inability to implement value enhancing improvements to plant operations and companywide processes, and our ability to achieve the expected benefits and timing of our RepoweringNRG projects.

NRG undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The foregoing review of factors that could cause NRG’s actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements included in this news release should be considered in connection with information regarding risks and uncertainties that may affect NRG’s future results included in NRG’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.

Source: NRG Energy

 
© 2004, 2007 Greenjobs.com. All rights reserved