Polaris Renewable Energy Announces Acquisition Transaction in Puerto Rico

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / October 29, 2024 / Polaris Renewable Energy Inc. (TSX:PIF) ("Polaris" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has entered into an Equity Capital Contribution Agreement ("ECCA") with respect to Punta Lima Wind Farm LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Santander Bank N.A. -"Santander"-).

The project is an operating onshore wind farm called Punta Lima Wind Farm ("PLWF" or the "Project") with a nameplate capacity of 26.0 MW's located in the Municipality of Naguabo, Puerto Rico. The Project was re-constructed and recommissioned by Santander and has a 20-year power purchase agreement ("PPA") in place with Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) terminating in March 2044.

The transaction is being completed using a tax-equity structure which will result in Polaris becoming the manager and operator of the Project with a controlling equity interest and Santander retaining a tax equity interest in the Project. the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, which principally consist of approval of the acquisition by local regulatory bodies as well as the execution of a corresponding LLC Agreement. It is expected that these conditions will take approximately 90 days to finalize. The total equity contribution of $20 million from Polaris will be subject to customary closing adjustments including working capital changes. Polaris intends to use cash on hand to fund the equity contribution. Santander Corporate & Investment Banking acted as sole financial advisor to Santander Bank N.A.

"This strategic acquisition further deploys Polaris capital into another jurisdiction while adding wind into our generation mix", said Marc Murnaghan, President and CEO of Polaris. "We believe that this transaction provides attractive near-term returns to our shareholders as well as enhancing our growth opportunities significantly. This includes the use of energy storage to provide competitively priced energy and grid stabilization services as well as exploring further strategic opportunities on the island given its stated future energy requirements."

"Santander is proud to have rebuilt the Punta Lima wind farm in Puerto Rico and is very pleased to be selling its interest to a specialist partner in Polaris," said Nuno Andrade, head of Global Debt Financing US, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking. "It was the right thing to do to support the island's clean energy efforts and we are very happy with this outcome."

About Polaris Renewable Energy Inc.

Polaris Renewable Energy Inc. is a Canadian publicly traded company engaged in the development, construction, acquisition, and operation of renewable energy projects in Latin America.

The Company's operations are in 5 Latin American countries and include a geothermal plant (~82 MW), 3 run-of-river hydroelectric plants (~39 MW), and 3 solar (photovoltaic) projects in operation (~35 MW).

About Santander

Santander Bank, N.A. is one of the country's leading retail and commercial banks, with $102 billion in assets. The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN), recognized as one of the world's most admired companies by Fortune Magazine in 2024, with 168 million customers in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. It is overseen by Santander Holdings USA, Inc., Banco Santander's intermediate holding company in the U.S.

Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (Santander CIB) is Santander's global division that supports corporate and institutional clients, offering tailored services and value-added wholesale products suited to their complexity and sophistication, as well as to responsible banking standards that contribute to the progress of society.Santander US Capital Markets LLC (SanCap) is the institutional broker-dealer of Santander in the United States operating under Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, a Santander global division that supports corporate and institutional clients."

About Punta Lima Wind Farm LLC.

Punta Lima Wind Farm, LLC operates a wind power plant called Punta Lima Wind Farm, The Punta Lima project started production in October 2012 until it was rendered inoperative by hurricane Maria in 2017. Installation of 13 new Vestas V100-2.0 MW wind turbines started in 2022 with COD achieved in March 2024.

For more information, contact:

Investor Relations
Polaris Renewable Energy Inc.
Phone: +1 647-245-7199
mail: info@PolarisREI.com

Cautionary Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to future events or future performance, management's expectations regarding the timing and amount of purchases of Shares, if any, made under the NCIB, as well as the benefits of such purchases, including providing flexibility to the Company in managing its capital position.Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the inability of the Company to pay for any Shares it wishes to purchase, the price of the Shares purchased or the affect that any such purchases have on the Company's capital position, all of which may be affected by such factors as general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the actual results of current geothermal, solar and hydro energy production, development and/or exploration activities and the accuracy of probability simulations prepared to predict prospective geothermal resources; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; possible variations of production rates; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the geothermal and hydro power industries; political instability or insurrection or war; labor force availability and turnover; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or in the completion of development or construction activities, or in the commencement of operations; the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern and general economic conditions, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers of this press release should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Although the forward-looking information contained in this press release is based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The information in this press release, including such forward-looking information, is made as of the date of this press release and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, Polaris assumes no obligation to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances.

SOURCE: Polaris Renewable Energy Inc.