Brookfield Renewable Power Celebrates Opening of Gosfield Wind Energy Project

All power produced from the Gosfield Wind power facility is being sold at a fixed price to the Ontario Power Authority under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) and will qualify for the Canadian Federal Government’s ecoEnergy Program for Renewable Energy. Commercial operations started under the project’s PPA on September 16, 2010.

"The McGuinty government is committed to creating a strong, reliable and clean energy system, and these wind power projects go a long way to helping us achieve this goal,” said Brad Duguid, Ontario’s Minister of Energy. “I am pleased to see Brookfield Renewable Power and the residents of Essex County, contributing, like so many communities across the province, to our vision for a cleaner, healthier and more prosperous Ontario," said Mr. Duguid.

Brookfield is also pleased to announce the start of construction at the 166 MW Comber Wind turbines project in the neighbouring Town of Lakeshore. The Comber Wind project received a 20-year contract under the province of Ontario’s Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Program and is expected to enter commercial operation in the fall of 2011. Together, Gosfield and Comber are expected to generate enough clean, renewable energy annually to power over 70,000 average Ontario homes.

On a combined basis, the Gosfield and Comber wind farm projects are expected to represent an investment of more than $650 million and create 300 temporary jobs during construction and 15 permanent jobs for ongoing operations and maintenance. As required under the FIT Program, the Comber project will comprise at least 25% Ontario content, primarily through the supply of turbine components and construction labour.

“A project of this magnitude would not have been possible without support from many parties, particularly the local community with whom we have been working for the last eight years,” said Harry Goldgut, Chairman of Brookfield Renewable Power. “We are grateful to the people of Essex County for their support, and together we are fulfilling the vision behind the Green Energy and Economy Act and bringing clean, renewable energy to the province of Ontario and supporting green manufacturing and services. We now look forward to construction of the Comber project which, together with Gosfield and our Prince Wind facility in northern Ontario, will bring Brookfield’s wind generating capacity in the province to more than 400 megawatts by the end of 2011.”

Brookfield Renewable Power Inc., wholly-owned by Brookfield Asset Management Inc., has more than 100 years of experience as an owner, operator and developer of hydroelectric power facilities. Its total portfolio includes more than 165 generating facilities with over 4,200 megawatts of capacity. It also has a significant hydroelectric and wind project pipeline.

Brookfield Renewable Power’s operations are primarily located in North America and Brazil. Brookfield Asset Management Inc., focused on property, power and infrastructure assets, has more than US$100 billion of assets under management and is listed on the New York and Toronto Stock Exchanges under the symbols BAM and BAM.A, respectively, and on Euronext Amsterdam under the symbol BAMA.

www.brookfieldpower.com