AES Begins Construction On $300 Million Wolf Hollow Power Plant in Granbury, Texas; 730MW Plant Expected to Commence Commercial Operations in the Summer of 2002.

Business Editors

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2001

The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) announced today the start of construction of the $300 million AES Wolf Hollow power plant at a site in Granbury, Texas, 30 miles southwest of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

The 730MW facility will supply 350 megawatts of electricity under a 20-year power purchase agreement with a major U.S. power marketer. The remaining electric power will be sold into the Texas electricity market. Natural gas for the plant will be supplied under a long-term contract with a significant U.S gas supplier. The facility is expected to commence commercial operations in the summer of 2002.

AES Wolf Hollow will use state-of-the-art MHI 501 "G" combustion turbine technology. Major equipment will be supplied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc. (MHIA).

The facility will be designed and constructed under a lump-sum engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with a partnership of Parson's Energy and Chemical Group, Inc. and Enron /NEPCO. Water for the facility will be supplied under a 32 year water supply agreement with the Brazos River Authority. An electrical interconnect agreement has been reached with TXU.

Bob Johnston, President, AES Wolf Hollow, L.P, stated, " This power facility has been in development for only a year and a half. The speed of our development program demonstrates the commitment of the State of Texas to encourage competition in its newly deregulated electricity market. The community of Granbury has been very supportive of our project and we thank the people of Granbury for their support."

Dennis W. Bakke, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are constantly looking for opportunities to supply safe, clean, reliable and reasonably priced electricity. This plant will fulfill that mission in a remarkable way."

Business development milestones in 2001 include the following:

-- In January, a subsidiary of AES acquired a majority interest in a 290MW
barge-mounted natural-gas-fired electric generating business in Lagos, Nigeria.


-- In January, AES Huntington Beach submitted a proposal to the California
Energy Commission to restart two retired gas-fired units that will add an
additional 450 megawatts of generation in the electricity-strapped state of
California.

-- In January, AES announced the purchase of an additional 39% ownership
interest in Hydroelectrica Alicura, a 1000 MW hydro plant in Argentina, on
December 27, 2000.

-- In January, AES announced that it had successfully completed its offer to
exchange all American Depositary Shares of Gener S.A. for AES common stock.

AES is a leading global power company comprised of competitive generation, distribution and retail supply businesses in Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Georgia, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Mexico, Pakistan, Panama, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, the United States and Venezuela.

The company's generating assets include interests in one hundred and fifty three facilities totaling over 53 gigawatts of capacity. AES's electricity distribution network has over 920,000 km of conductor and associated rights of way and sells over 126,000 gigawatt hours per year to over 17 million end-use customers.

In addition, through its various retail electricity supply businesses, the company sells electricity to over 154,000 end-use customers.

AES is dedicated to providing electricity worldwide in a socially responsible way.

This news release may include forward-looking statements. Actual events and results may differ materially from those projected. Factors that could affect actual results are discussed in AES's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and readers are encouraged to read those filings to learn more about the risk factors associated with AES's businesses.

For more general information visit our web site at www.aesc.com or contact investor relations at [e-mail]. The list aes-pr-announce is an automated mailing list and can be found on the investing page of our web site. Those who subscribe to this list will receive updates when AES issues a press release.