HAMILTON, Bermuda – Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners L.P. (TSX:BEP.UN) announced Thursday that it is increasing its unitholder distributions by three cents to $1.38 a year as the company also moved to increase its wind farm assets in California.
The increase in unitholder distributions, taking effect with the first quarter distribution payable in April, marginally increases the yield to 5.1 per cent based on Thursday afternoon’s unit price of $26.92 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
“The increase in distributions is the result of significant progress in the company’s growth plans, specifically the announcement today that with its institutional partners, the company has entered into agreements to acquire new wind generation assets in California,” Brookfield Renewable said in a release.
Among the assets being acquired is a 150-megawatt wind project in California purchased from an unnamed U.S. wind developer.
The project is in the Tehachapi region in close proximity to Brookfield Renewable’s existing 102-megawatt wind farm and benefits from a 24-year power purchase agreement with Southern California Edison, it said.
Brookfield Renewable also increased its 50 per cent interest in its 102-megawatt wind farm in Tehachapi, Calif., to 100 per cent and added an additional 22 megawatts of wind generation capacity from the company’s existing partner, the Coram Energy Group.
The cost of the acquisitions was not disclosed.
Brookfield Renewable will manage all of the newly acquired assets, which will be integrated into its North American operating platform.
“We are making strong progress on our growth plans,” said CEO Richard Legault. “The 150 megawatt wind asset, combined with the consolidation of our ownership interest in Coram, are strong additions to our renewable power portfolio.”
In recent weeks, Brookfield Renewable has completed construction of four renewable power facilities totalling some 280 megawatts of capacity, including a 166-megawatt wind farm in Ontario, a 99-megawatt wind farm in New Hampshire, a 10-megawatt hydro station in Minnesota and a six-megawatt hydro station in West Virginia.
Brookfield said it has also received an environmental assessment certificate for its 45-megawatt hydroelectric project in British Columbia, with construction expected to begin in 2012. Once complete, the generating facility is expected to generate enough electricity annually to power approximately 15,000 homes.
Brookfield Renewable operates one of the largest publicly-traded, pure-play renewable power platforms in the world with a portfolio of 172 hydropower facilities and five wind farms with a total 4,800 megawatts of installed capacity.
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