AE-AMD Renewable Energy and Tenesol/SunPower begin work on two solar projects in South Africa

Thursday, Dec 20, 2012

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

SOURCE SunPower Corp.