NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- MMC Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq:MMCE) announced today that the California Energy Commission has accepted the Company's Application for Certification for the Chula Vista Energy Upgrade Project, a 100 MW natural gas-fired power plant in Chula Vista, San Diego County, California.
Acceptance of the application signals the CEC Staff's agreement that the application contains information sufficient for Staff's review of engineering aspects and environmental effects of the project.
Acceptance of the application also formally begins the California power plant site certification process. Under this process, it is expected that the project would be granted a license to construct approximately one year from the date of the application's acceptance.
Once the facility is permitted, the Company expects to finalize the long term revenue, construction contract, and project debt financing agreements for the upgrade.
San Diego is one of the most constrained electricity markets in California and the entire United States according to the Department of Energy. The Chula Vista facility was originally developed with a view towards supporting two distinct generating units, and presents an attractive expansion opportunity to provide additional capacity, ancillary services and energy to the San Diego and Southern California market.
The Company plans to expand the site to 100 MW nominal generating capacity by installing two (2) GE LM6000 combustion turbines and generator sets with state-of-the-art emissions control technology. The Company has retained Worley Parsons Group to design the Chula Vista plant upgrade. Construction on the project is expected to begin in late 2008. The upgrade project is scheduled to be completed and on line by June of 2009.
MMC Chula Vista is located in the City of Chula Vista in San Diego County on land under a long-term lease to the Company. The current Chula Vista plant has a gross nameplate capacity of 44 MW and will be decommissioned and removed as the new upgrade facility comes on line.
The upgraded plant will have black-start and quick-start capabilities and can reach base-load power output in less than 10 minutes to meet peak load requirements. The plant interconnects directly into the San Diego Gas and Electric transmission system and is fueled with natural gas and has state of the art emission control systems. The upgraded facility will realize significant increases in efficiency and reductions in air emissions on a per megawatt-hour basis, compared with the current facilities.
About MMC Energy, Inc.:
The Company is an energy company that acquires and actively manages electricity generating and energy infrastructure-related assets in the United States. The Company's mission is to acquire, directly or through joint ventures, a portfolio of small to mid size electricity generating assets, generally below 250 megawatts or "MW".
The Company creates long-term value for its shareholders through discounted asset acquisitions and hands on post-acquisition asset management. The Company is traded on the NASDAQ Global Market in the United States and the Deutsche Bourse in Germany.
The Company actively invests in energy assets which provide essential services to key markets such as California, which are vulnerable to energy demand spikes. To date, the Company has acquired three electricity generating assets in California, totaling 110 MW of capacity. The Company is currently in the process of upgrading two of these assets, MMC Chula Vista and MMC Escondido.
The Company is continuing to pursue an aggressive portfolio acquisition and growth strategy targeting power generation facilities and energy infrastructure assets primarily in California, Texas, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Northeastern U.S., where regulatory capacity requirements and a lack of peak energy supplies make peak power generation facilities valuable.
Forward Looking Statements:
This press release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including without limitation those statements regarding the Company's ability to expand existing generating facilities and exploit acquisition opportunities. These statements are expressed in good faith and based upon a reasonable basis when made, but there can be no assurance that these expectations will be achieved or accomplished. Although the forward-looking statements in this release reflect the good faith judgment of management, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those discussed in these forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, those risks described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB and in its other public filings. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.