Ontario Power Generation

OPG News Release, July 29, 2005

July 29, 2005
ONTARIO POWER GENERATION'S PICKERING 'A' UNIT 1 READY FOR START UP

Refurbished unit will deliver 515 MW of additional "clean air" electrical capacity

[Toronto]: Ontario Power Generation (OPG) today announced that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has given permission for staff to begin the process of starting up the newly refurbished Pickering 'A' Unit 1 reactor. The unit last operated in December, 1997.

The removal of the Guaranteed Shutdown State (GSS) and the bringing of the unit to low power operation is scheduled to take about two weeks. This will signify the successful completion of 115 regulatory pre-requisites relating to the upgrading and refurbishment of virtually every system in the unit.

The start up process comes after about 1.9 million hours of complex and challenging work involving more than 23,000 tasks, the installation of almost 2.9 million parts, and the efforts of a peak workforce of 2,879. Now begins the planned three month period of equipment and systems commissioning and testing under operating conditions. During much of this commissioning period the unit will be supplying electricity to the Ontario consumer. Full power commercial service is expected this fall.

The projected costs at the completion of the project are estimated to be approximately $1.0 billion.

"Despite the number of technical challenges and the discovery work encountered on this project we have safely completed major construction and are ready to begin bringing the unit back into service. The entire team of OPG and contractor staff should be proud of how they pulled together to ready Unit 1 for start-up," said Bill Robinson, SVP Pickering 'A' Return to Service and Project Manager.

Ontario Power Generation Inc. is an Ontario-based electricity generation company whose principal business is the generation and sale of electricity in Ontario. Our focus is on the efficient production and sale of electricity from our generation assets, while operating in a safe, open and environmentally responsible manner.

For more information contact:
Ontario Power Generation Media Relations
1-877-592-4008 or (416) 592-4008