GUELPH, Ontario and
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Canadian Solar Inc., one of the world's largest
solar power companies, and EDF Energies Nouvelles, a
global market leader in renewable energy, announced
today the acquisition of 80% interest in Canadian Solar's Pirapora
II solar energy project in Brazil
by EDF Energies Nouvelles' local subsidiary, EDF EN do
Brasil.
The 115 MWp Pirapora II project will start construction in
the fall of 2017 and is expected to reach commercial operation in
2018. Canadian Solar will supply the modules for the
project from its 380
MWp modules factory established in Brazil to support the local
market.
The Pirapora II project, located in the state of Minas
Gerais in Brazil,
was awarded a 20-year
Power Purchase Agreement in the first Reserve Energy
Auction. Once completed, the project
will generate 231,992 MWh per year and contribute towards the
country's goal of obtaining 23% of its energy from non-hydro
renewable sources by 2030.
In October 2016, EDF EN do
Brasil acquired 80% of Canadian Solar 191.5 MWp Pirapora I project,
also located in Minas Gerais. The two
projects are adjacent to each other and at combined
306.5 MWp constitute one of the largest
solar energy projects in Latin
America.
"The investment by EDF Energies Nouvelles in Canadian
Solar's Pirapora II project is another testament to the quality of
Canadian Solar's project pipeline in
Brazil. We have now
partnered with EDF EN for two
of our three projects in Brazil
with awarded long-term PPAs, totaling 306.5 MWp. EDF EN is an
important strategic partner of Canadian Solar and we look forward
to further expanding our cooperation, while we grow our project
pipeline in Brazil and other
countries," said Dr. Shawn
Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian
Solar.
Antoine Cahuzac, Senior
Executive Vice President in Renewable Energies of EDF and Chief
Executive Officer of EDF Energies Nouvelles added,
"This additional Pirapora major solar
project confirms the EDF's
Group strong ambition to strengthen and diversify its
renewables assets portfolio in Brazil, in partnership
with a specialized company such as Canadian Solar.
Pirapora I 191MW solar project and two wind projects are
currently under construction by EDF Energies Nouvelles in
the country. EDF Group is also involved in the hydraulic project
–Sinop."
BTG Pactual served as financial advisor to Canadian Solar
in the transaction.
About Canadian Solar Inc.
Founded in 2001 in Canada, Canadian Solar is one of the world's
largest and foremost solar power companies. As a leading
manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules and provider of solar
energy solutions, Canadian Solar also has a geographically
diversified pipeline of utility-scale power projects in various
stages of development. In the past 16
years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over
21 GW of premium quality modules to over
100 countries around the world. Furthermore,
Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the solar
industry, having been publicly listed on NASDAQ since 2006. For
additional information about the company, follow Canadian Solar
on LinkedIn or visit
www.canadiansolar.com.
About EDF Energies Nouvelles
EDF Energies Nouvelles is a market leader in renewable
energy electricity, with a portfolio of more than 9,5 GW gross
installed capacity focused for the most part on wind (onshore and
offshore) and solar photovoltaic energy. Mostly operating in
Europe and North America, EDF Energies Nouvelles
continues its development by taking strong positions in promising
emerging areas such as Brazil,
Chile, China, India
or South Africa. The Company is
also present in other segments of the renewable energy market:
marine energy, distributed energies and energy storage. EDF
Energies Nouvelles manages renewable energy projects' development
and construction as well as operation and maintenance for its own
account and for third parties. EDF Energies Nouvelles is a
subsidiary of the EDF Group dedicated to renewable
energy.
Visit us at
www.edf-energies-nouvelles.com and
follow us on
https://www.linkedin.com/company/edf-energies-nouvelles
and on Twitter @EDFEN_officiel
Canadian Solar Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain statements in this press release regarding the
Company's expected future shipment volumes, gross margins, business
prospects and future quarterly or annual results, particularly the
management quotations and the statements in the "Business Outlook"
section, are forward-looking statements that involve a number of
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially. These statements are made under the "Safe Harbor"
provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by
such terms as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends,"
"estimates," the negative of these terms, or other comparable
terminology. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
include general business and economic conditions and the state of
the solar industry; governmental support for the deployment of
solar power; future available supplies of high-purity silicon;
demand for end-use products by consumers and inventory levels of
such products in the supply chain; changes in demand from
significant customers; changes in demand from major markets such as
Japan, the U.S., India and China; changes in customer order patterns;
changes in product mix; capacity utilization; level of competition;
pricing pressure and declines in average selling prices; delays in
new product introduction; delays in utility-scale project approval
process; delays in utility-scale project construction; continued
success in technological innovations and delivery of products with
the features customers demand; shortage in supply of materials or
capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange rate
fluctuations; litigation and other risks as described in the
Company's SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 20-F
filed on April
27,
2017. Although the Company believes that
the expectations reflected in the forward looking statements are
reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity,
performance, or achievements. Investors should not place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements. All information
provided in this press release is as of today's date, unless
otherwise stated, and Canadian Solar undertakes no duty to update
such information, except as required under applicable
law.
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SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.