Acciona and Suncor celebrate start up of first Ontario wind power project. All figures are in Canadian dollars. RIPLEY, ON, Dec. 10 /CNW/ - The Ripley Wind Power Project, a $176 millionjoint venture project between Acciona Energy and Suncor Energy Products Inc.began generating power on November 24, sending electricity to Ontario'sIndependent Electricity System Operator. The partners are continuing to commission wind turbines and plan tocomplete commissioning activities by the end of 2007. The 76-megawatt facility is the first Ontario wind power project for bothcompanies. It is located near the town of Ripley on the eastern shores of LakeHuron in Huron-Kinloss Township, approximately 220 kilometres west of Torontoand 140 kilometres north of London. Operated by Acciona, the wind farm consists of 38 two-megawatt turbines,two electrical substations and a 27-kilometre transmission line. The Ripley project is expected to generate enough clean electricity topower approximately 24,000 Ontario homes and displace the equivalent of atleast 66,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. "Adding clean, affordable and sustainable electricity capacity is a toppriority for our government," said Minister of Energy and Member of ProvincialParliament Scarborough - Agincourt Gerry Phillips. "That's why we have set agoal of doubling Ontario's renewable energy supply to 15,700 megawatts by2025. The Ripley wind farm, at 76 megawatts, is an important and welcomeaddition." Government support is critical to renewable energy development in Ontarioand Canada. The Ontario government's Request for Proposals and Standard OfferProgram, and the Canadian government's ecoENERGY Renewable Initiative supportinvestment in wind energy. The Ripley project companies have applied forfunding under ecoENERGY for Renewable Power. This is the third wind farm jointly owned by Acciona and Suncor. Thecompanies co-own the Alberta-based Magrath and Chin Chute wind farms,30-megawatts each, in partnership with Enbridge Income Fund. This news release contains forward-looking statements that address goals,expectations or projections about the future. These statements are based onSuncor's current goals, expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions,as well as its current budgets and plans for capital expenditures. Some of theforward-looking statements may be identified by the words "expected,""planned," and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees offuture performance. Actual results could differ materially, as a result offactors, risks and uncertainties, known and unknown, to which Suncor'sbusiness is subject. Further discussion of the risks, uncertainties and otherfactors that could affect these plans, and any actual results, is included inSuncor's annual report to shareholders and other documents filed withregulatory authorities. Acciona Energy is the largest wind developer in the world with aportfolio of 4,910 megawatts installed in 180 wind farms in 10 countries(3,603 owned by the company). The company manufactures wind turbine generatorsusing in-house technology. In solar energy, Acciona's Nevada Solar One projectrepresents the largest solar thermal electric power plant (64 MW) built in theworld in the last 16 years, in addition to the company's 38 MW installationsof photovoltaic power and a 46 MW photovoltaic solar plant under developmentin Portugal. In the area of biomass, Acciona operates three plants (33 MW) and19 small hydro power plants (59 MW). In biofuels, the company producesbiodiesel from vegetable oils and bioethanol from surplus wine. Acciona is one of the premier international corporations working in thedevelopment and management of infrastructure services and renewable energysources, employing more than 38,000 people worldwide. Acciona is listed on theIBEX-35 in Spain with a market capitalization of more than $14 billion. For more information, please visit the company's website atwww.acciona-energy.com. Suncor Energy Products Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suncor EnergyInc., an integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Suncor'soil sands business, located near Fort McMurray, Alberta, extracts and upgradesoil sands and markets refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, while operationsthroughout Western Canada produce natural gas. Suncor operates a refining andmarketing business in Ontario with retail distribution under the Sunoco brand.U.S.A. downstream assets include refining operations in Colorado and retailsales in the Denver area under the Phillips 66 brand. Suncor's common shares(symbol: SU) are listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. Sunoco in Canada is separate and unrelated to Sunoco in the UnitedStates, which is owned by Sunoco, Inc. of Philadelphia. For further information: Lena Stinsa, Acciona Energy North America, Tel:(312) 673-3021; Coral Hulse, Suncor Energy Inc., Tel: (403) 205-6828
