2010-07-30 19:20:02 -
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 07/30/10 -- Northland Power Income Fund ("Northland")(TSX: NPI.UN)(TSX: NPP.PR.A)(TSX: NPI.DB)(TSX: NPI.DB.A) announced today that Investissement Quebec has agreed to lend $15 million to the construction of Northland's 100 MW wind farm located in the Gaspesie region of Quebec near the Municipality of Mont Louis, about 150 km east of Matane. The project was awarded a contract in 2004 to supply power to Hydro-Quebec under a 20 year Power Purchase Agreement.
Site clearing began in early July and the project is expected to achieve commercial operations in the third quarter of 2011, subject to completion of the project's interconnection facilities by Hydro-Quebec.
The total cost of the project is expected to be $176 million. Northland anticipates raising approximately $120 million of debt financing for the project, including the $15 million from Investissement Quebec.
"We are very grateful for the encouragement and assistance we have received from Hydro-Quebec and the government of Quebec, especially Investissement Quebec and the Ministere des Ressources Naturelles et de la Faune throughout the development process," said John Brace, CEO of Northland. "We overcame several challenges in getting to this stage and the support of Investissement Quebec has been instrumental in allowing this project to proceed."
ABOUT NORTHLAND
Northland is a Canadian income trust that has ownership or economic interests in 10 power projects totaling over 1,100 megawatts ("MW") (net 872 MW). Northland's assets comprise natural-gas-fired plants which efficiently and cleanly produce electricity and steam as well as facilities generating renewable energy from wind and biomass. Sales are made almost entirely under long-term contracts with a current average duration of 13 years. Northland's plants are located in Canada, the United States and Germany. In addition, Northland has the 86 MW Spy Hill project, 260 MW North Battleford project and 216 MW of wind, solar and run-of-river hydro projects awarded under the Ontario Power Authority's Feed-in-Tariff program in advanced stages of development. Northland also has a diverse development portfolio of high-quality 'Clean and Green' energy projects, including wind, solar, natural gas, and hydro assets that supports its strategy of sustainable growth primarily through internally developed opportunities. The Fund's trust units, preferred shares and two series of convertible debentures, which trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols NPI.UN, NPP.PR.A, NPI.DB, NPI.DB.A respectively, are qualified investments for RRSPs and DPSPs under the Canadian Income Tax Act. The Fund has in place a distribution re-investment plan that allows Unitholders who are residents of Canada to automatically have their monthly cash distributions reinvested in additional units. Participants do not pay any costs associated with the plan, including brokerage commissions. For further information or to join the plan, contact your financial advisor or broker.
Contacts:
Northland Power Income Fund
John Brace
President & Chief Executive Officer
647-288-1036
Northland Power Income Fund
Boris Balan
Director, Communications & Business Development
647-288-1210
Northland Power Income Fund
Barb Bokla
Manager, Investor Relations
647-288-1438
416-962-6266 (FAX)
info@NPIFund.com :
www.northlandpower.ca :
