SNC-LAVALIN JOINT VENTURE AWARDED CONTRACT FOR GEOTHERMAL PROJECT IN NEW ZEALAND

MONTREAL, Feb. 22, 2011 /CNW/ -- 
MONTREAL, Feb. 22, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ - SNC-Lavalin is pleased to
 announce that Contact Energy (Wellington, NZ) has awarded the McConnell
 Dowell/SNC-Lavalin/Parsons Brinkerhoff joint venture an engineering,
 procurement, construction (EPC) contract for the construction of the
 166 MW Te Mihi geothermal project. 


Two new geothermal power units of 83 MW each will be constructed near
 the Wairakei geothermal power station, northwest of Taupo, NZ.  Once
 completed, approximately 45 MW of the existing Wairakei geothermal
 station will be decommissioned, resulting in a net increase from the
 combined Te Mihi and Wairakei stations of 114 megawatts.


"We are pleased to be expanding our experience in the worldwide
 renewable energy market, and to be working with a leading green energy
 company like Contact Energy" said Patrick Lamarre, Executive
 Vice-President, SNC-Lavalin Group.  "Geothermal power is playing an
 increasingly important role in the industry, and our mandate to execute
 on this contract is a testament of our ability to successfully deliver
 complex projects all over the world."


Contact Managing Director, David Baldwin, says the commitment to Te Mihi
 reflects the company's view that geothermal is New Zealand's most cost
 effective new base load generation.


"The additional 114 megawatts is expected to be required by the market
 by 2013 as economic growth resumes, and will also contribute to
 lowering Contact's average cost of generation," he said.


SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) is one of the leading engineering and construction
 groups in the world and a major player in the ownership of
 infrastructure, and in the provision of operations and maintenance
 services. SNC-Lavalin has offices across Canada and in over 35 other
 countries around the world, and is currently working in some 100
 countries. In business since 1911, the Company celebrates its 100(th) anniversary in 2011. www.snclavalin.com.


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table valign="top" cellspacing="0" border="1" class="cnwBorderedTable"tr valign="top"td align="left"Media/td td align="left"Investors/td/tr tr valign="top"td align="left"Leslie Quintonbr/ Vice-President, Global Corporate Communications               br/ SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. br/ 514-393-8000, ext. 7354br/ a text-decoration="underline" href="mailto:[e-mail]"[e-mail]/a/td td align="left"Denis Jasminbr/ Vice-President, Investor Relationsbr/ SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.br/ 514-393-8000, ext. 7553br/ a href="mailto:[e-mail]"[e-mail]/a/td/tr/table

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