Northland’s Mont Louis Wind Energy Project Achieves Commercial Operations

Northland Power Inc. ("Northland") (TSX:NPI)(TSX:NPI.PR.A)(TSX:NPI.DB.A) announced today that its wholly-owned 100.5 megawatt (MW) Mont Louis wind farm project has achieved commercial operations at 00:00 (EDT) on September 17th, 2011. The project, consisting of 67 General Electric (GE) 1.5 MW wind turbines near the town of Mont Louis in the Gaspésie region of Quebec, will sell electricity under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Hydro-Québec. The project will also receive a portion of the federal EcoEnergy incentive for wind power for 10 years.

The wind farm was built by Borea Construction ULC, a Quebec-based joint venture between Montreal’s Pomerleau Construction and Blattner Energy of Minnesota. The wind turbine towers and nacelles were supplied to GE by the Marmen facilities in Matane, the nacelle shells were also fabricated in Matane at VCI Composites, and the blades were manufactured for GE by LM Glasfibre at their factory in Gaspé. In total, the project represents an investment of over $80 million in the Gaspésie economy and an additional $30 million in the Quebec economy outside Gaspésie, and will provide ongoing employment to local service and operations staff. The project which was completed within budget and ahead of schedule, was financed in part through the cooperation of Investissement Québec.

This is Northland’s third wind farm in Quebec, joining the 127.5 MW Jardin d’Eole project that began operation in late 2009 and the Mont Miller project that began operation in 2005 and was sold by Northland in late 2010. Northland is continuing its strategy of investing in sustainable ‘clean and green’ power generating assets with long-term contracts.

"We are very proud of our team that brought the Mont Louis project within budget and ahead of schedule." said John Brace, CEO of Northland. "Northland is excited to be adding this project to our growing portfolio of wind assets. We are grateful for the support from the Mont Louis community, Hydro-Québec, Investissement Québec and all levels of government in Quebec who contributed to make this project a success."

Northland Power Inc. (TSX:NPI) owns or has a net economic interest in 918 MW of operating generating capacity, and 346 MW of generating capacity in advanced construction. Northland is also actively developing 316 MW of wind energy, solar power and run-of-river hydro projects awarded PPAs under the Ontario Power Authority’s FIT program and approximately 2,200 MW of additional power generation opportunities. Northland’s assets comprise facilities that produce electricity from "clean" natural gas and "green" renewable sources such as wind solar and biomass.

Electricity generation and capacity is primarily sold under long-term contracts with creditworthy customers. Northland’s operating thermal power assets include the 120 MW Iroquois Falls cogeneration facility, the 110 MW Kingston combined-cycle power facility, the 265 MW Thorold cogeneration facility, and an economic interest in two natural-gas- and biomass-fired generation facilities in Ontario Canada as well as a 19% equity interest in the 230 MW Panda-Brandywine combined-cycle power facility located outside Washington, D.C. Northland’s operating renewable power facilities include the 128 MW Jardin d’Éole wind farm and the 100 MW Mont Louis wind farm both located in Quebec, two wind farms totaling 22 MW of installed capacity located in Germany and several rooftop solar power facilities. Northland owns the following plants which are in advanced construction: the 86 MW Spy Hill and the 260 MW North Battleford projects in Saskatchewan Canada. Once Northland’s Spy Hill project is operational in late 2011, Northland’s cash flows will be diversified over five geographically separate regions and regulatory jurisdictions.

www.northlandpower.ca