Canadian Solar is to sell three solar farms in Queensland, Australia, with an aggregate 117 MWp of capacity to Foresight Solar Fund (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 percent interests in each of Longreach and Oakey 1, and a 100 percent 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 2018respectively.
Canadian Solar said 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.
“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,” said Shawn Qu, chief executive officer of Canadian Solar.