K Road Power Acquires 25-megawatt McHenry Solar Project From SunPower

SAN FRANCISCO and SAN JOSE, Calif., May 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- K Road Power Holdings, LLC (K Road) and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) announced today that K Road has acquired the 25-megawatt (AC) McHenry Solar Project that SunPower designed and is currently constructing in Modesto, Calif. The project is creating up to 144 construction jobs and injecting approximately $18.7 million into the local economy during construction. SunPower will provide operations and maintenance services when the project begins commercial operation in September.

The solar power generated by the project's solar photovoltaic (PV) technology will be sold to the Modesto Irrigation District (MID) under a 25-year power purchase agreement, helping the utility achieve California's 33 percent renewable portfolio standard. It will generate the equivalent amount of power for approximately 6,000 homes.

"The McHenry Solar Project is a world-class solar project and this acquisition represents K Road's commitment to own and operate a diversified portfolio of solar PV generating assets under long-term supply relationships," said William Kriegel, K Road's chairman and chief executive officer.  "We are proud to partner with SunPower to supply clean, renewable electricity to the Modesto Irrigation District, a community owned electric and water utility in California's central valley." 

K Road arranged non-recourse construction and term project financing with a syndicate of three institutions. Union Bank, N.A. (Administrative Agent), Rabobank and CIT Energy acted as Joint Lead Arrangers. "K Road is extremely pleased to have worked with three leading project finance institutions for the McHenry Solar Project. This successful financing underscores the quality of the project and SunPower's technology, the strength of the counterparties, and the professionalism and focused efforts of everyone involved," said K Road's Chief Financial Officer Carl Weatherley-White.   

SunPower is installing the SunPower Oasis™ Power Plant product at the site. Oasis is a fully integrated, modular solar power block that is engineered to rapidly and cost-effectively deploy utility-scale solar projects while minimizing land use impacts. Each power block integrates the SunPower® T0 Tracker with SunPower's high efficiency solar panels, pre-manufactured system cabling, the Oasis smart inverter, and the Oasis operating system. SunPower Oasis also features the SunPower advanced Tracker Monitoring and Control System (TMAC™) for wireless control of the power plant. The power block kits are shipped pre-assembled to the job site for rapid field installation, and offer the highest capacity factor and the most reliable long-term performance.

"SunPower technology is fast to install, offers guaranteed performance, and is a competitively-priced choice for power," said Howard Wenger, SunPower president, regions. "We commend K Road for seizing the opportunity to enhance the local economy in Stanislaus County, while helping meet the state's growing energy demand and renewable energy goals."

About K Road Power
K Road Power is an independent power developer focused on developing, financing, owning and operating utility‐scale solar projects. Founded and led by William Kriegel, K Road's senior management is made up of long time power sector professionals from Sithe Energies, AES Corporation, Barclays, and Goldman Sachs. Together, K Road principals have a 25‐year history of successfully developing and safely operating over 20,000 megawatts of conventional and renewable power assets, consistently creating exceptional value for both shareholders and project stakeholders. K Road promotes sustainable, renewable energy development with a focus on reliability and efficiency in concert with environmental and social responsibility. K Road has offices in New York City and San Francisco. In August 2011, Barclays Natural Resource Investments ("BNRI", ), a division of Barclays Bank PLC, entered a partnership with K Road Power to equity fund the continued development, construction, and operations of K Road Power's utility-scale solar portfolio.  BNRI partners with top quality management teams to invest in the global natural resources space, particularly upstream oil & gas, mining, power & renewables.  It was founded in 2006, has as of April 2012 committed c.$2.1 billion equity across 22 portfolio companies and management teams. For more information, please visit www.bnri.com.  For more information on K Road Power, go to www.kroadpower.com. 

About SunPower
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.com.   

SOURCE SunPower Corp.