AES Announces Power Purchase Agreement with Direct Energy and Financing for 120 MW Wind Generation Project.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) today announced it signed a 15-year wind power purchase agreement with Texas retail electric provider Direct Energy, a subsidiary of Centrica, plc. AES will sell all of the electricity it produces from its first phase 120 megawatt (MW) Buffalo Gap wind generation facility in Texas at fixed prices to Direct Energy.

"The Buffalo Gap power purchase agreement expands AES's US based contract generation portfolio," said Ned Hall, AES Vice President, Wind Generation. "The closing of construction financing and the equity consortium demonstrate AES's ability to structure successful wind generation projects. All of the participants in Buffalo Gap are first tier wind industry companies and we look forward to continued success together as AES grows its wind generation business."

AES has purchased 67 Vestas V80 wind turbine generators and construction is underway with commercial operation expected by the end of 2005. D.H. Blattner & Sons, Inc. is in charge of engineering, procurement and construction of the Buffalo Gap project. Dexia Credit Local is providing construction lending. A consortium led by an affiliate of JPMorgan Capital Corporation will provide additional equity funding when construction is completed. Other consortium members include affiliates of New York Life Insurance Company, Prudential Capital Group, The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, and Union Bank of California.

AES has made three strategic investments in wind generation in the past nine months. In April, the company announced a joint venture with world class renewable energy company EHN to develop wind generation projects in the New York market. In March, AES completed its acquisition of SeaWest, which has wind facilities and development sites in the western US. In 2004, AES invested in US Wind Force, LLC, which is developing wind generation projects in the largely untapped renewable energy market in the mid-Atlantic US. AES has approximately 2,750 MW of wind projects in development in 14 states in the US.

Direct Energy is part of the Centrica group of companies, one of the largest multi-state providers of deregulated retail energy services in North America and the third largest retail energy provider in the state of Texas. Direct Energy serves customers in nine U.S. states and in Canada. Globally, the Centrica group of companies is a leading provider of energy and other essential services with more than 31 million customer relationships.

About AES

AES is a leading global power company, with 2004 sales of $9.5 billion. AES operates in 27 countries, generating 44,000 megawatts of electricity through 124 power facilities and delivers electricity through 15 distribution companies. Our 30,000 people are committed to operational excellence and meeting the world's growing power needs. To learn more about AES, please visit www.aes.com or contact media relations at [e-mail].