Canadian Solar signs $28.3 bn credit agreement with Rabobank

Canadian_Solar

Solar power company Canadian Solar has signed a credit facility agreement for JPY3.5 billion ($28.35 million) with Rabobank Hong Kong.

The company plans to use the credit with two-year maturity to finance construction of an initial portfolio of 20 MWp of solar power plants in Japan.

Dr Shawn Qu, the chairman and chief executive Officer of Canadian Solar said the company was building its solar power pipeline in Japan to support the launch of a yieldco in that country. Japan is a key market for Canadian Solar.

Canadian Solar had also issued a statement informing that it was close to completing construction of its 100-MW Grand Renewable Solar Project (GRS) in Haldimand county, Ontario.

The project which is deploying 445,000 CS6X MaxPower high-performance modules of Canadian Solar (made in Ontario) is claimed to be the largest operational solar power farm in Canada.

Canadian Solar provided engineering, procurement, and construction services for the project, which is jointly owned by Samsung Renewable Energy, Connor, Clark & Lunn Infrastructure, and Six Nations of the Grand River.

GRS is expected to produce approximately 170,000 MWh of electricity annually. And the solar energy will help power about 17,000 homes.

It will prevent emission of 162,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases over the 20-year period of the power purchase agreement with the IESO, the statement says.

About a week ago, Canadian Solar had announced clearance of financing for the Aria solar plant in Springwater, Ontario, Canada. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, or Manulife, agreed to provide the company with C$52.8 million ($40.8 million) as construction and term financing for the project.

Canadian Solar will sell the Aria project to Concord Green Energy once it goes into commercial operation.

The 9MW project is expected to be connected to the grid in the fourth quarter of this year.

Also this month, Canadian Solar announced completion and grid connection of three of its solar photovoltaic power plants in Japan. The projects totaling capacity of about 5.2 MWp, include the 2.2 MWp Tsukuba Stones Solar Power Plant in Kasama City, Ibaraki Prefecture, the 2.0 MWp Tomigaoka Solar Power Plant in Isa City, Kagoshima Prefecture, and the 1.0MWp Isa City Solar Power Plant in Isa City, Kagoshima Prefecture.

The 2.2 MWp Tsukuba Stones Solar Power Plant was connected to the grid on June 26.

The project powered by 8,448 Canadian Solar CS6P-260P modules is expected to generate 2,474 MWh power annually. Tokyo Electric Power will evacuate the output under a 20 year feed-in-tariff contract at the rate of JPY40 ($0.33) per kWh.

The 2 MWp Tomigaoka Solar Power Plant was grid-connected on June 29. It is powered by 7,920 Canadian Solar CS6P-255P modules, and will generate about 2,415 MWh of clean energy annually.

Kyushu Electric Power is purchasing power from this project under a 20 year feed-in-tariff contract at the rate of JPY36 ($0.30) per kWh.

The third, 1 MWp Isa City Solar Power Plant was connected to the grid on June 9. It is powered by 3,654 Canadian Solar CS6P-255P modules and is expected to generate about 1,175 MWh of power annually.

Kyushu Electric Power is the company purchasing power from the project under a 20-year feed-in-tariff contract at the rate of JPY40 ($0.30) per kWh.

Ajith Kumar S

[email protected]