Tenaska Power Fund to Sell Commonwealth Chesapeake Power Station to Tyr Energy - 12/17/07
OMAHA, Nebraska – Tenaska Power Fund, L.P. (TPF) has agreed to sell the Commonwealth Chesapeake Power Station in New Church, Virginia, to Tyr Energy, Inc. (“Tyr Energy”) of Overland Park, Kansas.
The sale was announced jointly by Paul Smith, Senior Managing Director of Tenaska Capital Management, LLC, of Omaha, manager of TPF and Karl Usami, President & CEO of Tyr Energy.
The Commonwealth Chesapeake Power Station was purchased by TPF in 2005. The sale to Tyr Energy is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008. J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. served as advisor to TPF and Fieldstone Private Capital Group served as advisor to Tyr Energy on the transaction. Tyr Energy’s purchase price was not disclosed.
The plant delivers energy to the PJM regional power reliability grid serving large areas in the East, Northeast and Midwest.
“We are pleased with the result of this sale process,” said Smith. “TPF congratulates Tyr on its purchase of the Chesapeake facility. We regard it as a first class power plant.”
“Tyr Energy is very excited to own the Chesapeake facility, which will form an important component of our growing portfolio of generating assets in North America,” Usami said.
The Chesapeake Generating Station includes seven simple-cycle gas turbine electric generator sets able to produce 315 megawatts of electricity—enough to meet the energy needs of approximately 300,000 households.
The plant was built on a 126-acre tract on the Delmarva Peninsula in two phases, the first in 2000 and second in 2001. It is operated by a staff of 13 full-time employees of TPF Operations, Inc., an affiliate of Tenaska Energy, Inc.
Fuel oil is used to fuel the electric generating station. It has “spinning reserve” capacity on four turbines to provide a ready and reliable regional power source.
About Tenaska Power Fund
Tenaska Capital Management, LLC (TCM), a Tenaska affiliate, provides services to Tenaska Power Fund, L.P. (TPF); a private equity limited partnership which was formed by the owners of Tenaska to pursue opportunities for investment in the energy sector. TPF is owned outside of Tenaska’s holding company structure. TCM uses Tenaska employees’ experience and skills to evaluate acquisition opportunities – analyzing the value of assets, operating efficiencies, market opportunities, and fuel agreements that can be optimized to increase value. TPF has acquired a diverse group of assets that include power generating plants, national providers of transmission and pipeline construction and maintenance services, and natural gas storage facilities.
About Tyr Energy, Inc.
Tyr Energy, which was formed in 2002 to provide comprehensive management services to financial owners of distressed power assets, is owned by ITOCHU Corporation, a $37 billion international trading conglomerate and its U.S. based subsidiary, ITOCHU International, Inc. Tyr Energy focuses on owning equity interests in North American independent power assets and providing asset management services to facilities in which it is an owner. Tyr Energy currently owns an interest in the CalPeak Power portfolio of independent power facilities in California and has previously owned interests in facilities in Illinois and Oklahoma. Worldwide, ITOCHU owns interests in independent power facilities in Saudi Arabia and Japan in addition to the United States. For more information, visit www.tyrenergy.com.