Pristine announces advancement of Ontario Feed In Tarriff wind projects

CALGARY, April 8 /CNW/ - Pristine Power Inc. ("Pristine" or the "Company") today announced that its two proposed Ontario based wind projects, St. Columban and Grand Valley have successfully advanced to the next stage of the Ontario Feed In Tariff ("FIT") process. Pristine's economic interest in the projects is expected to range from 75% to 90%.

The proposed 33 MW St. Columban project is located in the township of Huron East and is enabled by the Bruce-to-Milton transmission project that Hydro One currently has underway. The Ontario Power Authority ("OPA") has indicated that the Bruce-to-Milton transmission project will have approximately 1,500 MW of capacity available for renewable power. Today's OPA announcement identified a total of approximately 1,600 MW of projects competing for this capacity. Accordingly, the OPA advised that the St. Columban project is subject to an Economic Connection Test ("ECT") which will evaluate and rank the project relative to the other FIT projects for assignment of this capacity. Post-ECT contract awards are expected in the fall of 2010.

The proposed Grand Valley project, located near Orangeville, applied for 50.8 MW of capacity in the FIT program. The OPA today announced that a contract is immediately available for 10.8 MW with the remaining 40 MW subject to the previously described Bruce-to-Milton ECT and ranking. The Company and its partners are evaluating the awarded contract and ECT process in light of current construction plans to determine the ultimate capacity of the project.

"The Ontario Government and the OPA have created the market and supplier environment for successful wind development in Ontario," said Jeffry Myers, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pristine. "We are optimistic that the projects will rank well in the ECT for assignment of Bruce-to-Milton transmission capacity. If contracts are awarded, construction of the projects is expected to commence in late 2011 with commercial operations beginning in 2012."

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this news release may constitute "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company or industry results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. When used in this news release, such information uses such words as "estimates", "expects", "plans", "anticipates" and other similar terminology. This information reflects the Company's current expectations regarding future events, including the development, construction and operation of the St. Columban and Grand Valley projects and speaks only as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking information involves significant uncertainties, should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be an accurate indication of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking information. Although the forward-looking information in this news release is based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with this forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is provided as of the date of this news release, and, subject to applicable securities laws, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances.

About Pristine

Pristine (TSX: PPX) is in the business of developing, owning and operating independent power plants that produce and sell electricity and in some cases, sell process steam to industrial users. Pristine capitalizes on opportunities in the independent power market by actively pursuing the development of dependable, cost-effective and environmentally responsible power generation facilities utilizing technology with proven past performance. Pristine pursues a mix of large gas-fired, bioenergy and hydroelectric projects, and smaller replicable waste heat recovery ERG(R) and bioenergy projects. Pristine currently has three projects in operation, and two under contract and in advanced development. Pristine is developing projects in strategic regions of North America. Visit www.pristinepower.ca for more information.

For further information: The Equicom Group Inc., Alice Dunning, Telephone: [phone] x255, [email protected]