GUELPH, ON, Aug. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar
Inc. ("Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced its
wholly-owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, LLC ("Recurrent
Energy"), commenced construction on the 144 MWac Pflugerville Solar
Project located in Travis County,
Texas.
Recurrent Energy signed a Power Purchase Agreement ("PPA") with
Austin Energy in 2018 for the Pflugerville Solar Project to provide
low-cost solar power to the utility's customers for 15 years
following the start of operation. This PPA supports Austin Energy's
renewable energy goals which commit the utility to cost-effectively
reduce emissions and includes plans to exit from its coal-fired
power generation by the end of 2022. Austin Energy serves more than
500,000 customers in the City of
Austin, as well as several neighboring areas of Travis County and Williamson County.
"We are thrilled about this partnership with Recurrent Energy on
the Pflugerville Solar Project," said Jackie Sargent, Austin Energy General
Manager. "The project not only expands our renewable portfolio
and advances our climate protection goals, it is also located near
our customer base. The solar project will also deliver affordable
energy to our customers and it demonstrates Austin Energy's
continued dedication to fiscal responsibility and environmental
leadership. This project is a win-win."
By partnering with Austin Energy on the Pflugerville Solar
Project, Recurrent Energy is further expanding its footprint in
Texas. With the resources and
capabilities to deliver customized clean energy products and
project configurations for a wide variety of customers, Recurrent
Energy's Texas partnerships to
date include vertically-integrated utilities, a leading ERCOT load
serving entity, and multiple C&I offtakers.
The Pflugerville Solar Project is expected to create long-term
permanent jobs to support the operation and maintenance of the
power plant, as well as more than 350 construction jobs of which at
least 50% will be performed by local workers. The project will also
have a positive economic impact on the local community by providing
tax revenues for Travis County and
the Elgin ISD, which will total approximately $350 million throughout the life of the project.
Once operational, the Pflugerville Solar Project is expected to
generate enough low-cost clean electricity to power the equivalent
of approximately 25,000 Texas
homes.
"This is an incredible accomplishment
given the ongoing financing and construction challenges due to the
pandemic. It demonstrates the dedication and capabilities of
our Recurrent team, both in the tax equity financing and
on-the-ground execution, and the resilience of all our partners to
overcome the unique challenges together," said Dr.
Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Canadian Solar. "We are pleased to partner
again with Austin Energy as we share their commitment to provide
low-cost clean energy to customers. We appreciate our trusted
partners, such as U.S. Bank, CIT, Nord/LB, Rabobank, and Zions
Bank, who helped to bring this project to fruition and thank the
local Travis County community for
their continued support through the development process."
To support construction of the Pflugerville Solar Project,
Recurrent Energy recently closed debt and tax equity financing
totaling over $234 million. The tax
equity financing was provided by U.S. Bank and the debt financing
was provided by a bank club led by CIT Bank ("CIT"), which included
Norddeutsche Landesbank ("Nord/LB"), Rabobank, and Zions Bank.
"Recurrent Energy is well recognized as a top developer of
renewable energy projects," said Mike
Lorusso, managing director and group head for CIT's Power
and Energy unit. "We are pleased to work them on this financing
and proud to play a continuing role in supporting the expansion of
renewable power throughout the U.S."
Recurrent Energy is a leader in innovative corporate and
project financings, including letter of credit facilities and
a distinctive safe harbor loan structure. Employing a tailored and
flexible approach enables Recurrent Energy to successfully execute
best-in-class projects, while maximizing value for customers,
investors, and local communities.
About Austin Energy
Customer Driven. Community Focused.
Austin Energy, the City of
Austin's electric utility, lights a brighter future for more
than 500,000 customer accounts and more than one million residents
in Greater Austin. The utility's
commitment to providing value powers the community and the
innovation and culture that has made Austin a destination city. Austin Energy has
powered the community for 125 years, delivering safe, affordable,
reliable energy and excellent customer service. The publicly owned
utility will continue to shine a light into the future. For more
information about Austin Energy, visit austinenergy.com.
About Recurrent Energy
Recurrent Energy is a leading utility-scale solar and storage
project developer, delivering competitive, clean electricity to
large energy buyers. Based in the U.S., Recurrent Energy is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc. and functions as
Canadian Solar's North American project development arm. Recurrent
Energy has approximately 5 GW of solar and storage projects in
development in the U.S. Additional details are available at
www.recurrentenergy.com.
About Canadian Solar Inc.
Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 in Canada and is one of the world's largest solar
power companies. It is a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic
modules and provider of solar energy solutions and has a
geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale solar power
projects in various stages of development. Over the past 19 years,
Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 46 GW of
premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers in over
160 countries. 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.
Canadian Solar's Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain statements in this press release 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; delays in
the completion of project sales; 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 Form 20-F filed
on April 28, 2020. 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.