Philadelphia Navy Yard site will produce one megawatt annually.

KENNETT SQUARE, PA (April 29, 2008) – Exelon Generation Company, LLC, has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Epuron LLC, the U.S. subsidiary of one of the world’s largest renewable energy companies, to buy energy produced at a new solar energy facility located at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

The new solar power project is expected to produce roughly one megawatt of power, or enough energy for 200 homes, by the first quarter of 2009. 

"This agreement adds another element to Exelon's rapidly expanding renewable energy portfolio," said Ken Cornew, Exelon Power Team President.  "By producing clean, renewable power this project will reinforce Exelon's commitment to reduce, displace, or offset our carbon emissions 2020.  As such, it represents the leadership role Exelon plans to play in the nation's drive toward cleaner energy sources."

Cornew added that Exelon is pleased to be able to work together with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, and Epuron to advance this worthwhile project.

“Pennsylvania’s efforts to build a new, clean energy economy have established us as a national leader,” said DEP Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty. “Our combination of strategic investments and progressive policies are creating new markets for emission-free, renewable energy. Innovative projects like this solar facility will help build on that reputation, boost our economy by creating skilled, green-collar jobs, and diversify our energy portfolio, which helps to ensure a more reliable power supply.”

“The Exelon Epuron Solar Center at the Navy Yard is an important step towards a more economically diverse and sustainable Philadelphia,” said Mayor Michael A. Nutter.  “I am pleased that my administration, in coordination with the state and PIDC, could bring this project here.”

The Navy Shipyard project is an extension of Exelon and Epuron’s working relationship.  In August 2007, the pair—in conjunction with Waste Management Inc.—announced the construction of the nation’s fourth largest solar photovoltaic (PV) generation project, trailing only facilities in California and Arizona, at the WMI site in Fairless Hills.  That project will feature approximately 17,000 panels to capture the sun’s rays and convert them into three megawatts of electricity, or enough power for 2,400 homes.

“As a Pennsylvania based company headquartered in Philadelphia, Epuron is proud to announce plans for the largest solar electric power plant of any major US city. This public private partnership is a joint effort of the Governor's Office, DEP, PIDC, Exelon and the Mayor's vision for a cleaner Philadelphia. We could think of no better site for this project than the Navy Yard which is the home of the City's most important redevelopment effort,” says Arndt E. Lutz, Epuron's Managing Director.   

Exelon Generation will sell the physical electricity produced by the pair of solar energy projects to PJM Interconnection.  The electricity will then be available to help meet electricity needs across the grid, the interconnected system of power lines used to move electricity around the region.  The major driver for solar energy demand in Pennsylvania is the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards law, which requires that local utilities purchase an increasing percentage of solar energy for delivery to their customers.

In addition to the recent solar agreements with Epuron, Exelon Generation has a 30 MW landfill generation project about six miles from the Fairless Hills solar energy project site.  Exelon’s renewable energy supply portfolio also includes four wind projects totaling 154 MW and two large hydroelectric facilities totaling about 1,300 MW.

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Exelon Corporation is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities with approximately $19 billion in annual revenues.  The company has one of the industry’s largest portfolios of electricity generation capacity, with a nationwide reach and strong positions in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.  Exelon distributes electricity to approximately 5.4 million customers in northern Illinois and southeastern Pennsylvania and natural gas to approximately 480,000 customers in the Philadelphia area.  A subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, Exelon Energy is a retail energy marketer specializing in the supply of natural gas and electricity to commercial and industrial customers in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio.  Exelon is headquartered in Chicago and trades on the NYSE under the ticker EXC.

Epuron GmbH, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, is one of the world's leading project development and structured finance companies in the renewable energy sector. The company develops, finances, and operates solar and wind farms, solar thermal power plants, as well as biogas and bioethanol large-scale systems. Since its foundation in 1998 Epuron has financed and realized large-scale projects with an investment volume of over $750 million. Epuron has subsidiaries and offices in 12 countries on five continents and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the listed company Conergy AG (CGY, German stock exchange), the world's market leader in solar power systems. Epuron’s U.S. subsidiary, Epuron LLC, is headquartered in Philadelphia and maintains an office in Sacramento, Calif., for its West Coast activities.