Canadian Solar Enters Binding Contracts for the Sale of Three Solar Farms Totalling 117 MWp in Queensland, Australia
GUELPH, Ontario, Oct. 16, 2017 — 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.
Source: Canadian Solar Inc.
