GP: Shell WindEnergy Acquires 41-MW Wind Plant

["Tom Gray" <tomgray@igc.org>]

Shell WindEnergy Enters California With 41 MW Acquisition
PR News Wire -- May 17, 2002

LONDON, May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Shell Renewables has made its first move into
the California wind energy market. The company's US wind energy operation,
Shell WindEnergy Inc., has signed an agreement to acquire the 41 megawatt
(MW) Cabazon Pass wind park in the San Gorgonio Pass area, west of Palm
Springs. The acquisition brings Shell WindEnergy's capacity in the US to 171
MW and is a key component of the company's aim to become a leading player in
the wind sector.

The Cabazon Pass wind park will be built by Cannon Power Corporation, with
62 Vestas 660 kilowatt turbines, and is scheduled to begin generating
electricity by the end of August 2002. The electricity will be sold under a
power purchase agreement to the California Department of Water Resources.

California pioneered wind development in the US, being the first state to
develop large-scale wind parks in the early 1980s. 90% of the installed wind
capacity is spread across four states in the US with 50% in California. The
San Gorgonio Pass has over 1,300 turbines installed, generating 420 MW.

"This deal gives us a stake in the San Gorgonio Pass which is considered to
be one of the best areas in the US for wind energy development," said David
Jones, Chairman of Shell WindEnergy Inc. "Combined with our existing wind
parks we are demonstrating our commitment to being a major player in the US
wind sector. At the same time we're building up a strong team of people
based in the US and Europe, who are busy negotiating deals and scouring our
chosen markets for attractive business opportunities."

Gerry Monkhouse, Chairman of Cannon Power, said: "Cannon Power has
developed, constructed, owned and operated wind energy projects in the US
and Europe since the early 1980s. It is a challenging business and I'm
pleased to see a major company of Shell's stature enter the arena,
especially in the California market. Our teams enjoyed working together on
the Cabazon Pass project and in my judgment Shell will quickly become a
major presence in the international wind energy industry."

Shell's interest in the wind power value chain spans origination,
development, financing, construction and operation of wind parks. Europe and
North America are the principal areas of focus, targeting both established
wind markets (e.g. US, UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Italy) and
emerging wind energy markets.

Overall, more than 3,000 MW of wind energy projects are currently being
developed or evaluated by Shell in the US and Europe. Shell WindEnergy
operates two other wind parks in the US - Rock River 1 (50MW) in Wyoming and
White Deer ( 80MW) in Texas.

/CONTACT: Michael McGarry, Media Relations for Shell WindEnergy Inc., +1-
212-218-3107/

10:20 EDT
Copyright © 2002


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