Annual Information Form for the Year Ended December 31, 2020
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TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION .................................................... 3 Financial and Operational Effects of NON-IFRS MEASURES .......................................... 3 Environmental Protection Requirements ........... 42 CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON Employees ....................................................... 42 Social and Environmental Protection Policies .... 42 FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION .................... 3 RISK MANAGEMENT AND RISK FACTORS ...........44 CORPORATE STRUCTURE .................................... 8 DIVIDENDS ..........................................................44 GENERAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUSINESS ...... 9 DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STRUCTURE.............45 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS .......................................... 9 THREE-YEAR SUMMARY ........................................... 10 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STRUCTURE 45 Financial Year 2020 .......................................... 10 Common Shares .............................................. 45 Financial Year 2019 .......................................... 12 Preferred Shares ............................................. 45 Financial Year 2018 .......................................... 14 Series A Shares and Series B Shares ............... 46 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW AND PRINCIPAL Series C Shares ............................................... 47 4.75% Convertible Debentures ........................ 48 MARKETS ........................................................... 16 4.65% Convertible Debentures ........................ 49 RENEWABLE POWER GENERATION INDUSTRY ....... 16 CREDIT RATINGS ..................................................... 50 Renewable Power in Canada ............................ 17 MARKET FOR SECURITIES ....................................... 52 Renewable Power in the U.S. ............................ 20 DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ............53 Renewable Power in France ............................. 21 DIRECTORS .............................................................. 53 Renewable Power in Chile ................................ 22 EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ............................................. 54 METHOD OF PRODUCTION ...................................... 23 DIRECTORS’ AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS’ SHARE Hydroelectric Power Generating Process .......... 23 OWNERSHIP ............................................................. 54 Wind Power Generating Process ...................... 23 BANKRUPTCY, INSOLVENCY, CEASE TRADE ORDER Solar Power Generating Process ...................... 24 AND PENALTIES ....................................................... 55 Energy Storage ................................................ 24 CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ...................................55 FACTORS AFFECTING RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AND REGULATORY PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE ................................ 25 ACTIONS.............................................................56 COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS ..................................... 25 INTEREST OF MANAGEMENT AND OTHERS IN ECONOMIC DEPENDENCE ....................................... 27 SEASONALITY AND CYCLICALITY ............................ 27 MATERIAL TRANSACTIONS.................................56 Seasonality of Production by Energy Sources.... 27 TRANSFER AGENT AND REGISTRAR ...................58 DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS AND ASSETS OF MATERIAL CONTRACTS ......................................58 THE CORPORATION ........................................... 29 INTEREST OF EXPERTS .......................................58 GENERAL OVERVIEW – SEGMENT INFORMATION ... 29 AUDIT COMMITTEE DISCLOSURE .......................58 PORTFOLIO OF ASSETS ........................................... 29 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ...............................60 Operating Facilities ........................................... 29 GLOSSARY OF TERMS ........................................61 Development Projects ...................................... 37 SCHEDULE A ......................................................65 Prospective Projects ......................................... 41 CORPORATE STRUCTURE ....................................... 65 Intangible Assets .............................................. 41 SCHEDULE B ......................................................67 CHARTER OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE .................... 67 Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. Annual Information Form Page | 2 INTRODUCTION Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. is a leading Canadian independent renewable power producer. Active since 1990, the Corporation develops, acquires, owns and operates hydroelectric facilities, wind farms, solar farms and energy storage facilities and carries out its operations in Canada, the United States (“U.S.”), France and Chile. Innergex’s mission is to build a better world with renewable energy. The information set out in this Annual Information Form (“AIF”) is stated as at December 31, 2020 and all money-related amounts are stated in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise specified. The exchange rate used to convert U.S dollars to Canadian dollars is 1.2732. Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, all reference to the “Corporation”, to “Innergex”, “we”, “our” and “us” refers to Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. and its subsidiaries. Terms not otherwise defined have the meaning set forth in the “Glossary of terms” included at the end of this document. NON-IFRS MEASURES Some measures referred to in this AIF are not recognized measures under IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to those presented by other issuers. The Corporation believes these indicators are important, as they provide management and the reader with additional information about the Corporation's production and cash generation capabilities, its ability to sustain current dividends and dividend increases and its ability to fund its growth. These indicators also facilitate the comparison of results over different periods. Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Proportionate and Free Cash Flow are not measures recognized by IFRS and have no standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. Please refer to the section entitled “Non-IFRS Measures” of the Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2020 which is incorporated herein by reference and can be found under the Corporation’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com or on its website at www.innergex.com (the “2020 MD&A”) for the definition and historical reconciliation to the most comparable IFRS measure. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION To inform readers of the Corporation's future prospects, this AIF contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (“Forward-Looking Information”), including the Corporation's power production, prospective projects, successful development, construction and financing (including tax equity funding) of the projects under construction and the advanced-stage prospective projects, sources and impact of funding, project acquisitions, execution of non-recourse project-level financing (including the timing and amount thereof), and strategic, operational and financial benefits and accretion expected to result from such acquisitions, business strategy, future development and growth prospects (including expected growth opportunities under the Strategic Alliance), business integration, governance, business outlook, objectives, plans and strategic priorities, and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-Looking Information can generally be identified by the use of words such as “approximately”, “may”, “will”, "could", “believes", “expects", “intends”, "should", "would", “plans”, “potential”, "project", “anticipates”, “estimates”, “scheduled” or “forecasts”, or other comparable terms Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. Annual Information Form Page | 3 that state that certain events will or will not occur. It represents the projections and expectations of the Corporation relating to future events or results as of the date of this AIF. Future-Oriented Financial Information: Forward-Looking Information includes future-oriented financial information or financial outlook within the meaning of securities laws, including information regarding the Corporation's expected production, the estimated project costs, projected revenues, projected Adjusted EBITDA and projected Adjusted EBITDA Proportionate, Projected Free Cash Flow and intention to pay dividend quarterly, the estimated project size, costs and schedule, including obtainment of permits, start of construction, work conducted and start of commercial operation for Development Projects and Prospective Projects, the Corporation's intent to submit projects under Requests for Proposals, the qualification of U.S. projects for production tax credits (“PTC”) and investment tax credits (“ITC”) and other statements that are not historical facts. Such information is intended to inform readers of the potential financial impact of expected results, of the expected commissioning of Development Projects, of the potential financial impact of completed and future acquisitions and of the Corporation's ability to sustain current dividends and to fund its growth. Such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Assumptions: Forward-Looking Information is based on certain key assumptions made by the Corporation, including, without restriction, those concerning hydrology, wind regimes and solar irradiation, performance of operating facilities, project performance, economic, financial