January 22, 2010

Toronto, ON, Canada: Samsung and KEPCO Sign Major Renewables Agreement with Ontario Government

The McGuinty government has signed an agreement with a consortium led by Samsung C&T Corporation and the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) will invest $7 billion to generate 2,500 megawatts of wind and solar power.

These projects will triple Ontario's output from renewable wind and solar sources and provide clean electricity to more than 580,000 households. The investment will also lead to more than 16,000 new green energy jobs to build, install and operate the renewable generation projects. The Korean consortium will also work with major partners to attract four manufacturing plants. This will lead to the creation of 1,440 manufacturing and related jobs building wind and solar technology for use in Ontario and export across North America.

The consortium fully intends to use Ontario-made steel in its renewable energy projects, such as constructing its wind turbine towers. This is the single-largest investment in renewable energy in provincial history. The consortium chose Ontario because our Green Energy Act guarantees stable rates for renewable energy.

In addition to the standard rates for electricity generation, the Consortium will be eligible for an economic development adder (EDA). This adder is contingent upon the Consortium manufacturing partners operating four manufacturing plants according to the following schedule:

Towers - in full operation by March 31, 2013

Solar Inverters - in full operation by March 31, 2013

Solar Module Assembly - in full operation by December 31, 2013

Blades - in full operation by December 31, 2015

The total cost of the EDA, assuming the manufacturing facilities are built according to the schedule set out in the agreement, will be approximately $437 million (net present value) over the lifetime of the contracts.

The EDA is expected to add on average $1.60 annually to a residential bill over the lifetime of the generation contracts. This equates to an increase of about 0.1 per cent on a typical residential electricity bill.

The Consortium is committed to the construction of 2,500 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy generation, 2,000 MW of wind power and 500 MW of solar. Construction is expected to occur in five phases, commencing in 2012. The first phase of the project is scheduled to be completed in 38 months. It will be a 500MW cluster (400MW of wind and 100MW of solar) that will be built in the Chatham-Kent and Haldimand County regions of Southern Ontario.

Email requests for information to Samsung C&T Corporation and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO)