Mr. John Kousinioris reports

TRANSALTA ANNOUNCES GROWTH TARGETS TO 2028, FINANCIAL OUTLOOK FOR 2024 AND DECLARES DIVIDEND INCREASE OF 9%

TransAlta Corp. has updated its strategic growth targets to 2028, which strengthen the company's commitment to being a leader in clean electricity by delivering customer-centred power solutions. The growth targets include adding up to 1.75 GW (gigawatts) of new capacity to the company's fleet by investing approximately $3.5-billion to develop, construct or acquire new assets through to the end of 2028. The company will be providing further details at its investor day event, being held today in Toronto and virtually, on its strategic priorities, market outlook, operations, growth opportunities and pipeline, 2024 financial outlook, and longer-term plan.

"We have significant growth opportunities across Canada, the United States and Australia, with a focus on renewable and storage power solutions for large customers," said John Kousinioris, president and chief executive officer of TransAlta. "As we look forward to 2028, our growth outlook remains strong, and the company is well positioned in this accelerating energy transition landscape. We are confident that our investment strategy of expanding further into contracted renewables focused on onshore wind, solar and battery storage will deliver long-term value to our shareholders. We also intend to continue our path of disciplined investment and execution to ensure that our projects are delivering on required returns. We believe this enhanced discipline and customer focus is critical in the evolving market landscape.

"We are also pleased to announce that the board of directors has approved an annualized two-cent-per-share, or 9-per-cent, increase to our common share dividend. This represents the fifth consecutive annual dividend increase, and reflects the board's confidence in the company's strategic direction and cash-flow-generating potential, while affirming the company's commitment to realizing returns for our shareholders.

"In addition, we are excited to announce a joint development agreement with Hancock Prospecting to develop clean energy solutions for their growing operations in Western Australia. The team is proud to be adding another top-tier customer to our portfolio, and we expect this relationship to lead to new opportunities that we'll be able to share as part of our growing development pipeline," added Mr. Kousinioris.

Customer-centred clean electricity growth plan to 2028

The company's recently updated strategic growth targets include:

• Delivering up to 1.75 GW of incremental renewables capacity with a targeted investment of $3.5-billion by the end of 2028;
• Focusing growth on customer-centred renewables and storage through the development of its 4.8 GW development pipeline;
• Expanding the company's development pipeline to 10 GW by 2028.

Declared increase in common share dividend

The company's board of directors has approved a two-cent annualized increase to the common share dividend, or a 9-per-cent increase, and declared a dividend of six cents per common share to be payable on April 1, 2024, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 1, 2023. The quarterly dividend of six cents per common share represents an annualized dividend of 24 cents per common share.

Hancock Prospecting joint development agreement

The company has entered into a joint development agreement with Hancock Prospecting, Australia's fourth-largest iron ore producer. This arrangement will build on TransAlta's expertise in supplying power to remote mining operations in Western Australia, and will result in TransAlta and Hancock working collaboratively to define and supply behind-the-fence generation solutions for Hancock in the Port Hedland area.

Two thousand twenty-four financial outlook

For 2024, management expects adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) to be in the range of $1.15-billion to $1.3-billion and FCF (free cash flow) to be in the range of $450-million to $600-million, which is based on the following:

• Higher contribution from the wind and solar portfolio due to the full-year impact of new asset additions of Garden Plain and Northern Goldfields solar, as well as the expected full return to service of Kent Hills;
• Contributions from the addition of Mt Keith transmission;
• Contributions from the commercial operations of the White Rock and Horizon Hill wind projects, which are expected in the first quarter of 2024;
• Contribution from the Heartland Generation acquisition, which is expected to close in 2024;
• Lower contributions from the legacy merchant hydro, wind and gas portfolio in Alberta, which are expected to step down due to lower average power prices from current market levels given the baseload gas and renewables supply additions expected in 2024.

Investor day and conference call

TransAlta will be hosting an investor day later today at 9:30 a.m. (ET), during which our executive team will provide an overview of the company's strategic objectives, growth targets, and financial strategy and plan.

The presentation will be broadcast live via webcast, with video, and will be accessible on-line. The recorded video webcast and corresponding presentation will also be made available on the investor centre section of TransAlta's website following the event.

Webcast attendees can register to receive Web access information for the live event on-line. Registration for the event can also be found in the investor centre of TransAlta's website.

Two thousand twenty-three investor day webcast registration -- at the company's website.

Event details

• TransAlta 2023 investor day;
• Nov. 21, 2023;
• Start time: 9:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. MT.

About TransAlta Corp.

TransAlta owns, operates and develops a diverse fleet of electrical power generation assets in Canada, the United States and Australia, with a focus on long-term shareholder value. TransAlta provides municipalities, medium and large industries, businesses, and utility customers with clean, affordable, energy-efficient and reliable power. Today, TransAlta is one of Canada's largest producers of wind power, and Alberta's largest producer of hydro-electric power. For over 112 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator and a proud member of the communities where it operates and where its employees work and live. TransAlta aligns its corporate goals with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and its climate change strategy with CDP (formerly Climate Disclosure Project) and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. TransAlta has achieved a 68-per-cent reduction in GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, or 22 million tonnes, since 2015 and has received scores of A-minus from CDP and AA from MSCI.

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