NHOA acknowledges ENGIE's notice of abandonment of project in Hawaii. NHOA's backlog and guidance remain unchanged

News Release from NHOA, November 1, 2021

NHOA (Paris:NHOA)(NHOA:PA, formerly Engie EPS) has been informed today by ENGIE North America that, on 25 October 2021, ENGIE North America notified Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (HECO) of its decision to abandon the Puako solar and storage project due to elevated interconnection costs coupled with global supply chain and production issues, as well as tariffs and trade disputes specifically affecting the photovoltaic solar industry.

This project is a 60 MWAC solar plus 240 MWh battery storage facility, which was awarded to ENGIE in May 2020 and in which NHOA was to supply the battery storage system and act as a full storage solution provider and system integrator, as subcontractor to ENGIE.

NHOA is obviously disappointed with ENGIE’s decision, and takes this opportunity to clarify that the production issues mentioned by ENGIE are in no way related to NHOA’s technology nor scope of supply.

As consistently reported to the market, the project was included in the "Contracts Secured"1 category among NHOA’s key performance metrics, and therefore ENGIE’s decision has no impact on NHOA’s current Backlog2.

Accordingly, the Pipeline as at September 30, 2021, the Backlog as at 27 October 2021 and the 12-month Oder Intake3 as at 27 October remain unchanged at, respectively, €833 million, €205 million and €208 million, as published in the October 27, 2021 Q3 Trading and Operational Update. Contracts Secured now stand at €56 million (compared to €104 million).

The 2021 guidance is not impacted and 2022 guidance is also confirmed.

NHOA will consider, in coordination with its majority shareholder TCC (TWSE: 1101), the legal implications to NHOA and TCC of ENGIE’s decision, in light of the assurances given in the past by ENGIE to NHOA’s board of directors and TCC at the time of the acquisition by TCC of ENGIE’s majority stake in NHOA, as already disclosed in the report of A2EF, the independent expert appointed in connection with the mandatory tender offer on NHOA that followed TCC’s acquisition.

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HECO: Stage 2 RFP Final Award Group Projects  

IM: AES, Hu Honua and ENGIE -- Hawai`i Renewable Energy Issues Vary By Island  -- The Hawai`i Public Utilities Commission filed Information Requests to HECO to be answered by November 15, 2021: 

Please provide any and all information related in any way to ENGIE 2020 Project (a) regarding ENGIE`s decision to declare the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to be null and void, (b) regarding the interconnection costs, (c) the status of any Interconnection Requirements Study (IRS), and (d) any proposed amendment to the PPA. This includes any internal memoranda; any drafts of any contracts and/or negotiations; and any other document representing, memorializing, or otherwise evidencing any negotiation related to the Project.

PBN: French utility company scraps solar-plus-storage project on Hawaii Island