15th Aug 2006 14:04
BP PLC15 August 2006 August 15, 2006 BP ALTERNATIVE ENERGY BUYS US WIND COMPANY BP announced today that it has purchased Greenlight Energy, Inc., a US-baseddeveloper of wind power generation projects. The purchase will allow BP toaccelerate its plans to develop a leading wind power business in North America. BP has acquired all the shares of Greenlight Energy for a consideration of some$98 million, excluding working capital and tax adjustments. Greenlight is a developer of large-scale wind energy projects across the USA.Founded in 2000 and based in Charlottesville, Virginia, the company has aportfolio of some 39 mature and early stage development projects across the USAwith a potential total power generating capacity of 6.5GW. This portfoliocontains a number of projects which BP expects to be able to develop over thenext five years. The purchase will further accelerate the rapid growth of BP's US wind powerbusiness, a key part of BP Alternative Energy, the company's low-carbon powergeneration business. In July, BP Alternative Energy announced it had reachedagreement with the wind project developer and turbine manufacturer ClipperWindpower to acquire a 50 per cent stake in a 2GW wind development portfolio inthe USA as well as an agreement for the supply of turbines with a generatingcapacity of up to 2.25GW over the next five years. "This purchase gives BP Alternative Energy immediate access to a large number ofhigh quality wind development projects across the country, including a number ofprojects we expect to be able to develop over the next few years," said SteveWestwell, chief executive of BP Alternative Energy. "We look forward to workingclosely with the Greenlight team, who have built the company over the past sixyears." "Greenlight went through a rigorous process to find a strategic partner thatwould enable the company to accelerate the development of projects in ourpipeline," said Matthew Hantzmon, Managing Director of Greenlight Energy. "Thestrategic mandate of BP Alternative Energy is a perfect fit to scale up ourbusiness and enable the build-out of Greenlight's portfolio." Notes to editors: • Greenlight Energy is a developer of large wind energy projects in the United States. The company's portfolio is comprised of large scale projects, spread widely across the USA. The company's strategy has been to invest in new projects at the earliest possible stage and to advance them through to successful construction and operation. It has successfully developed and sold individual development projects to larger industry players. • BP Alternative Energy, launched in November 2005, combines all of BP's interests in zero- and low-carbon power generation: wind, solar, hydrogen power projects and gas-fired power generation. BP expects to rapidly grow BP Alternative Energy to become a material contributor to the company's performance and anticipates investing up to $8 billion in the businesses over the next ten years. Further information: Sarah Howell, BP Washington DC: +1 202 457 6603David Nicholas, BP London: +44 20 7496 4708 - ENDS - This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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