GUELPH, Ontario, Oct. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar
Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of
the world's largest solar power companies, today announced that it
has entered into binding contracts to sell interests in three solar
farms in Queensland, Australia,
with an aggregate 117 MWp of capacity to Foresight Solar Fund
Limited ("FSFL").
The portfolio consists of Longreach Solar Farm (17 MWp), Oakey 1
Solar Farm (30 MWp) and Oakey 2 Solar Farm (70 MWp) with FSFL
acquiring 49% interests in each of Longreach and Oakey 1, and a
100% interest in Oakey 2.
Two of the three solar farms (Oakey 1 and Longreach) hold
20-year offtake agreements with the Queensland Government and are
under construction with connection to the grid expected in March
and September 2018 respectively.
Oakey 2 solar farm is expected to connect to the grid in
October 2018 and will benefit from
the sale of power and large-scale generation certificates ("LGCs")
under the Renewable Energy Target regulatory framework.
Both Oakey 1 and Longreach have been funded to date by equity
from Canadian Solar, grants from the Australian Renewable Energy
Agency ("ARENA"), and senior debt from the Clean Energy Finance
Corporation ("CEFC") and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
The completion of the acquisitions is subject to certain
conditions being met including consents from relevant
stakeholders.
"We are pleased to have worked with FSFL and their team on this
milestone transaction. Canadian Solar is very well positioned in
Australia with an 800+MW pipeline
of early to late-stage developments and these projects will
directly contribute to the Federal Government's Renewable Energy
Target and State Government initiatives in generating affordable
clean energy" commented Dr. Shawn
Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian
Solar.
Ricardo Pineiro, Partner,
Foresight Group said: "We are delighted to have made this solar
acquisition in Australia on behalf
of FSFL. We have enjoyed working closely with Canadian Solar, with
whom we look forward to delivering a strong pipeline of future
energy projects both in Australia
and other international markets."
About Foresight Group LLP
Foresight is a leading independent infrastructure and private
equity investment manager which has been managing investment funds
on behalf of institutions and retail clients for more than 30
years. Foresight has £2.7 billion (A$4.6 billion) of Assets Under Management across
a number of funds, including Listed Vehicles, Limited Partnerships,
Enterprise Investment Schemes (EISs) and Venture Capital Trusts
(VCTs). As a global leading solar infrastructure investment
manager, Foresight currently manages more than £1.6 billion
(A$2.7 billion) in over 100 operating
Photovoltaic ("PV") plants with a generating capacity of c. 1.2GW
in the UK, Southern Europe,
Australia and North
America. In Bioenergy, Foresight has mobilised £900m of
capital investment into 31 waste projects, which when fully
operational will have a waste processing capacity of 1.8 million
tonnes per annum, diverting some 1 million tonnes of waste from
landfill every year and generating 134MW of clean energy, saving
750,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. Foresight manages the
A$200 million Australian Bioenergy
Fund ("ABF") which targets investments ranging from A$2 million to A$50 million into energy from
waste projects across the continent backed by a cornerstone
investment from the CEFC. Foresight Group is headquartered in
London, with international offices
in Sydney, Rome and San
Francisco with regional UK offices in Nottingham, Manchester and Guernsey. www.foresightgroup.eu
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 a provider of solar energy solutions, Canadian Solar
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 22 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 publically listed on NASDAQ
since 2006. For additional information about the Company,
follow Canadian Solar on LinkedIn or visit
http://www.canadiansolar.com.
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 results, 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; cancelation
of utility-scale feed-in-tariff contracts in Japan; 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.