ADDING MULTIMEDIA APS, Starwood Energy to Collaborate on Major Concentrating Solar Plant

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Arizona Public Service and Starwood Energy Group Global, LLC announced plans today for a 290-megawatt concentrating solar plant – among the largest in the world – to be built in the Harquahala Valley, 75 miles west of Phoenix. It will produce enough electricity to power more than 73,000 APS customer homes.

Scheduled for completion in 2013, Starwood Solar I will be owned by an affiliate of Starwood Energy with all the electricity generated by the facility provided to APS through a long-term purchase power agreement. Lockheed Martin, a leading global security company with extensive systems integration expertise, will design, build and operate the facility.

“A more sustainable future that highlights solar energy is a vision we share with our regulators at the Arizona Corporation Commission, the Governor and our customers throughout the state,” said APS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Don Brandt. “Starwood Solar I represents a major addition to the APS generation fleet and further strengthens our position as a leader in using the sun to generate electricity. This is yet another meaningful step in making Arizona the solar capital of the world.”

Starwood Solar I will be constructed on approximately 1,900 acres and include 3,500 parabolic mirrors that will focus solar thermal energy onto a heat transfer fluid. The hot fluid will convert water into steam, which then turns the plant’s turbines to create electricity, much like a traditional power plant. The plant also uses molten salt to store solar energy and continue producing electricity for up to six hours after the sun goes down – or through the period of highest electricity usage during hot Arizona evenings.

“We are delighted to enter into such an important relationship with APS and the people of Arizona,” said Brad Nordholm, Chief Executive Officer of Starwood Energy. “Along with Lockheed Martin, we look forward to completing this project and providing cost-effective solar power for many decades.”

Principals at Starwood Energy and its affiliates have developed or acquired 37 power generation and transmission projects totaling over $12 billion in value.

“Lockheed Martin is very pleased to partner on the Starwood Solar I project. Our expertise with engineering and production makes us uniquely qualified to serve as the project’s Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractor,” said Chris Myers, Lockheed Martin Vice President for Solar Energy programs. “To drive to successful completion on this project, we are applying the kind of world-class systems engineering and disciplined integration approaches that all of our domestic and international customers enjoy.”

This is the third major solar power announcement for APS this month, in what comprises the “APS Solar Tour – Spring 2009.” Previous “tour stops” this month included the announcement of the APS Community Power Project in Flagstaff and the dedication of a new solar project providing energy at the Grand Canyon.

In addition, this is the second purchase power agreement by APS for energy from a concentrating solar plant. In February 2008, APS signed an agreement with Abengoa Solar for the power from the to-be-built 280-megawatt Solana Solar Plant. With Solana, Starwood Solar I and other contractual agreements, APS expects to have 800 megawatts of energy in its renewable energy portfolio in 2014. This is enough energy for nearly one-quarter of a million customers and ensures that APS will exceed the requirements of the ACC-established renewable energy standard. The project requires the approval of the ACC.

“With Starwood Solar I, Solana and our other projects, APS will provide more solar electricity per customer than any utility in the country,” Brandt said.

Currently, the company has more than 157 megawatts of energy coming from a variety of renewable sources, including concentrating solar, photovoltaic solar, wind, biomass and geothermal. While some of the energy comes from APS and customer-owned systems, a majority comes from purchase power agreements such as the one just signed with Starwood LLC.

About Starwood Energy Group LLC

Starwood Energy is a private equity firm focused on energy and infrastructure investment. Starwood Energy is an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group, a leading real estate private equity firm founded in 1991 and led by Barry Sternlight. More information is available at www.starwoodenergygroup.com.

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 146,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.

About APS

APS, Arizona’s largest and longest-serving electricity utility, serves more than one million customers throughout the state. With headquarters in Phoenix, APS is the largest subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE:PNW).

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