ITOCHU Corporation Invests in Gainesville Renewable Energy Center Power Project

ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced equity participation in Gainesville Renewable Energy Center, a 100MW biomass power project located in Gainesville, Florida (“Project”), through indirect affiliates.

The Project was jointly developed by BayCorp Holdings, Ltd. (“Bay Corp”), Energy Management Inc. (“EMI”), and Tyr Energy Inc. (“Tyr Energy”, a wholly-owned Independent Power Producer (“IPP”) company of ITOCHU Corporation), and is the second 100MW class biomass power project developed by the group. The Project is one of the largest biomass fueled electric generating facilities in the United States, with an emission control system designed to meet or exceed all U.S. and Florida requirements.

Tyr Energy has contributed equity to the Project together with BayCorp, EMI and Fagen Inc. The group of commercial banks, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ as Coordinating Lead Arranger, Natixis, Rabobank Nederland, ING Capital, Credit Agricole, and Societe Generale (6 Banks), provided the debt for the construction of the Project. Total project cost is approximately USD 500 million.

Following financial closing, the project will move forward to the construction phase and is expected to begin commercial operation in 2013. After commencement of commercial operation, the project will deliver electricity to Gainesville Regional Utilities, the city-owned utility in Gainesville, Florida, under a 30 year long term power purchase agreement. NAES Corporation, the largest independent Operation & Maintenance provider, which operates the largest fleet of biomass facilities in US, will provide Operation & Maintenance service to the project.

ITOCHU has defined the IPP business as a priority area in its medium-term management plan Brand-New-Deal 2012, to generate sustained earnings over the long term. ITOCHU, through Tyr Energy, is actively working to add to its portfolio of IPP assets in both greenfield development and operating power plants.

About Tyr Energy, Inc. (Headquarters: Overland Park, Kansas)
CEO and President: Kaoru Usami An IPP Company wholly-owned by ITOCHU Corp. and ITOCHU International, Inc., Tyr Energy and its affiliates, own equity interests in 15 power plants located in Alabama, California, Georgia, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin, with total gross capacity of 7,000MW.

About Energy Management, Inc. (Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts)
EMI is a privately held energy company with more than 30 years of experience in energy conservation and energy development. In 1986, EMI developed, financed and constructed Alexandria Power Associates, a 15 MW wood-fired power production facility in Alexandria, New Hampshire. Following Alexandria, EMI developed six natural gas-fired electric generation projects totaling more than 860 MW of capacity and including the first true independent and merchant power projects in New England. EMI is also currently developing the Cape Wind Project, a 470 MW offshore wind project to be located in Nantucket Sound off the southern coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

About BayCorp Holdings, Ltd. (Headquarters: Portsmouth, New Hampshire)
BayCorp is an unregulated holding company incorporated in Delaware in 1996 and in 2005 became part of the Tavistock Group of companies. The Tavistock Group is a global, private investment company that was founded 30 years ago by investor Joe Lewis and includes a broad portfolio of interests in over 170 companies in 15 countries. BayCorp is a merchant energy company that owns power assets as well as natural gas and oil production and development assets. Baycorp previously held a joint ownership interest in the Seabrook Nuclear Power Project in Seabrook, New Hampshire. Today, BayCorp owns and operates a hydroelectric generation facilities in Vermont; through its Great Bay Power Marketing, Inc. subsidiary supplies wholesale power in the New England power market; and through its subsidiary BayCorp Resources owns and operates interests in oil and natural gas development and production projects. BayCorp is also the majority owner of HoustonStreet, a web-based platform for the trading of crude oil and refined petroleum products.

About Fagen Inc.
Founded in 1988 by President & CEO Ron Fagen, Fagen is a civil, mechanical and electrical contractor specializing in heavy industrial construction and maintenance work Serving customers throughout the United States. The Company has grown to become 37th largest general contractor in the United States as ranked by Engineering News-Record magazine.

About NAES Corporation (Headquarters: Seattle, Washington)
CEO and President: John P. Brewster The leading independent service provider for the energy and related infrastructure markets for over 30 years, offers facility operations & maintenance, engineering and construction, turbine repair and overhaul, technical support, and staffing. NAES is providing O&M services to 119 plants in 5 countries, which are equivalent to 35,485 MW. In addition, NAES operates 9 plants/247MW biomass-fueled power plants, the most experienced operator of the technologies of its kind.