Brookfield Renewable Establishes European Platform and Acquires One
of Ireland's Largest Wind Portfolios
320 MW operating portfolio to exceed 500 MW by 2015
- Scale portfolio of 17 high-quality wind power projects in
Ireland
- Potential to grow portfolio to over 500 MW with completion of
in-construction and development projects
- Long term contracted cash flows from government-backed REFIT
regimes with upside potential
- Scalable platform supporting continued growth in European
market
HAMILTON, BERMUDA--(Marketwired - Mar 25, 2014) - Brookfield
Renewable Energy Partners L.P. (TSX:BEP.UN)(NYSE:BEP) -
All amounts in U.S. dollars unless otherwise
indicated
Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners L.P. (TSX:BEP.UN)(NYSE:BEP)
("Brookfield Renewable") today announced an agreement to acquire
the wind portfolio of Bord Gáis Energy ("BGE") for a total
enterprise value of up to approximately EUR700 million (US$960
million), subject to customary closing adjustments. The transaction
with Brookfield Renewable is being completed as a sale by the
Republic of Ireland-owned Bord Gáis Éireann of all of its energy
business to a consortium that also includes Centrica plc and iCON
Infrastructure, who will acquire the non-wind assets of BGE. The
purchase price is subject to customary closing adjustments and
approximates EUR495 million (US$680 million), net of assumed
long-term non-recourse debt and certain deferred contingent
consideration. Brookfield Renewable will fund the transaction with
its institutional partners and maintain an economic interest in the
portfolio of approximately 40%.
"This is truly a milestone investment for Brookfield Renewable.
The Bord Gáis portfolio represents an ideal entry point into the
European market, bringing with it high quality renewable assets and
an experienced team of approximately 70 professionals with
operating, development, technical, commercial, and finance
expertise," said Richard Legault, President and CEO of Brookfield
Renewable. "Moreover, this first acquisition outside the Americas
provides us with a strong foundation to build a scalable renewable
energy business in Europe."
The BGE wind portfolio comprises 321 MW of operating wind
capacity across 17 wind projects in eight counties in Ireland and
Northern Ireland. The portfolio represents approximately 15% of the
installed wind capacity in Ireland, and includes some of the
strongest onshore wind resources in Europe. Approximately 90% of
the output is contracted on a long-term basis pursuant to
established government-backed tariffs. The contracts feature fixed
minimum prices with annual inflation indexation and the portfolio
can benefit from rising market prices over time. The combination of
strong wind resources in Ireland and a power market that otherwise
relies on natural gas-fired generation allows windpower to be an
attractive, cost-effective source of long-term electricity supply.
The portfolio is well positioned for future growth with an
additional 125 MW currently in construction and an approximate 300
MW wind development pipeline.
Brookfield Renewable's objective in Europe is to build a leading
renewable power platform with the full range of operating,
development and investment capabilities supporting further
expansion on a continental basis. With a significant share of the
world economy, a large investable universe of renewable power
assets, and strong support for renewable policy, further
acquisitions and developments in Europe will represent a core focus
for Brookfield Renewable and will complement the company's
substantial North and South American platforms.
The acquisition will be funded through available capital from
Brookfield Renewable and its institutional partners. The
transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary
closing conditions (including concurrent completion of the
acquisitions by the other consortium partners) and is expected to
close in the second quarter of 2014.
Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners (TSX:BEP.UN)(NYSE:BEP)
operates one of the largest publicly-traded, pure-play renewable
power platforms globally. Its portfolio is primarily hydroelectric
and totals approximately 6,000 megawatts of installed capacity.
Diversified across 70 river systems and 12 power markets in the
United States, Canada and Brazil, the portfolio's output is sold
predominantly under long-term contracts and generates enough
electricity from renewable resources to power more than three
million homes on average each year. With a portfolio of
high-quality assets and strong growth prospects, the business is
positioned to generate stable, long-term cash flows supporting
regular and growing cash distributions to shareholders. For more
information, please visit www.brookfieldrenewable.com.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains forward-looking statements and
information, within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of
the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the
U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, "safe harbor" of
the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
and in any applicable Canadian securities regulations, concerning
the business and operations of Brookfield Renewable.
Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans,
expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other
statements that are not statements of fact. Forward-looking
statements in this news release include statements regarding the
quality of Brookfield Renewable's assets and the resiliency of the
cash flow they will generate, Brookfield Renewable's anticipated
financial performance, future commissioning of assets, contracted
portfolio, technology diversification, acquisition opportunities,
expected completion of acquisitions, future energy prices and
demand for electricity, economic recovery, achieving long-term
average generation, project development and capital expenditure
costs, diversification of shareholder base, energy policies,
economic growth, growth potential of renewable asset class, the
future growth prospects and distribution profile of Brookfield
Renewable and Brookfield Renewable's access to capital.
Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words
such as "plans", "expects", "scheduled", "estimates", "intends",
"anticipates", "believes", "potentially", "tends", "continue",
"attempts", "likely", "primarily", "approximately", "endeavours",
"pursues", "strives", "seeks", or variations of such words and
phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results
"may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be
achieved. Although we believe that our anticipated future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements and information in this news release are
based upon reasonable assumptions and expectations, we cannot
assure you that such expectations will prove to have been correct.
You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements
and information as such statements and information involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause
our actual results, performance or achievements to differ
materially from anticipated future results, performance or
achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements
and information.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those contemplated or implied by forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to: our limited operating history; the
risk that we may be deemed an "investment company" under the
Investment Company Act; the fact that we are not subject to the
same disclosure requirements as a U.S. domestic issuer; risks
commonly associated with a separation of economic interest from
control or the incurrence of debt at multiple levels within our
organizational structure; the risk that the effectiveness of our
internal controls over financial reporting could have a material
effect on our business; changes to hydrology at our hydroelectric
stations or in wind conditions at our wind energy facilities; the
risk that counterparties to our contracts do not fulfill their
obligations, and as our contracts expire, we may not be able to
replace them with agreements on similar terms; increases in water
rental costs (or similar fees) or changes to the regulation of
water supply; volatility in supply and demand in the energy market;
our operations are highly regulated and exposed to increased
regulation which could result in additional costs; the risk that
our concessions and licenses will not be renewed; increases in the
cost of operating our plants; our failure to comply with conditions
in, or our inability to maintain, governmental permits; equipment
failure; dam failures and the costs of repairing such failures;
exposure to force majeure events; exposure to uninsurable losses;
adverse changes in currency exchange rates; availability and access
to interconnection facilities and transmission systems; health,
safety, security and environmental risks; disputes, governmental
and regulatory investigations and litigation; our operations could
be affected by local communities; losses resulting from fraud,
bribery, corruption, other illegal acts, inadequate or failed
internal processes or systems, or from external events; risks
related to our reliance on computerized business systems; general
industry risks relating to operating in the North American and
Brazilian power market sectors; advances in technology that impair
or eliminate the competitive advantage of our projects; newly
developed technologies in which we invest not performing as
anticipated; labour disruptions and economically unfavourable
collective bargaining agreements; our inability to finance our
operations due to the status of the capital markets; the operating
and financial restrictions imposed on us by our loan, debt and
security agreements; changes in our credit ratings; changes to
government regulations that provide incentives for renewable
energy; our inability to identify sufficient investment
opportunities and complete transactions; risks related to the
growth of our portfolio and our ability to realize the expected
benefits of our transactions; our inability to develop existing
sites or find new sites suitable for the development of greenfield
projects; risks associated with the development of our generating
facilities and the various types of arrangements we enter into with
communities and joint venture partners; Brookfield Asset Management
Inc.'s election not to source acquisition opportunities for us and
our lack of access to all renewable power acquisitions that
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. identifies; our lack of control
over our operations conducted through joint ventures, partnerships
and consortium arrangements; our ability to issue equity or debt
for future acquisitions and developments will be dependent on
capital markets; foreign laws or regulation to which we become
subject as a result of future acquisitions in new markets; and the
departure of some or all of Brookfield's key professionals.
We caution that the foregoing list of important factors that may
affect future results is not exhaustive. The forward-looking
statements represent our views as of the date of this news release
and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any
date subsequent to March 25, 2014, the date of this news release.
While we anticipate that subsequent events and developments may
cause our views to change, we disclaim any obligation to update the
forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable
law. For further information on these known and unknown risks,
please see "Risk Factors" included in our Form 20-F.
Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners L.P.Zev KormanVice
President, Investor and Media
Relations416-359-1955zev.korman@brookfield.comwww.brookfieldrenewable.com
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