GUELPH, Ontario and NAJU, South Korea, Nov. 14, 2019 /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 sold 49% interest in three solar photovoltaic projects in Mexico totaling 370 MWp (294 MWac) to Korea Electric Power Corporation ("KEPCO"), South Korea's largest electric utility, and Sprott Korea, a leading fund manager ("Sprott"). KEPCO and Sprott acquired the interests in the Horus (119MWp), Tastiota (125MWp) and El Mayo (126 MWp) projects located in the states of Aguascalientes and Sonora. Under the agreement, KEPCO and Sprott will acquire Canadian Solar's remaining interest in the projects following their commercial operation date.
Canadian Solar developed the three projects and will supply the modules and manage the projects' construction. Horus construction is under way with COD expected in Q2 2020, Tastiota and El Mayo COD is expected in Q1 2021. Once operational, the projects are expected to generate 900 GWh of clean electricity annually, enough to power 206,000 households and offset 524,000 tons of carbon dioxide emission each year. The electricity generated will be sold under 15-year power purchase agreements for energy and capacity and 20-year for Clean Energy Certificates awarded in November 2017 in the third government auction organized by CENACE.
The transaction marks KEPCO and Sprott's first investment in the solar market in Mexico and the second transaction with Canadian Solar following the acquisition of the Astoria, Astoria 2, and Barren Ridge projects in the U.S. in 2018.
"This high-quality solar portfolio is a strategic addition to our international renewable energy holdings and will allow us to further diversify our generation portfolio," said KEPCO's President and CEO JongKap Kim. "We are pleased to be working again with Canadian Solar, an industry-leading developer, and expect further cooperation in the global solar market."
"The investment by KEPCO and Sprott in our portfolio further illustrates the success of Canadian Solar in the Mexican solar energy market. This is the second sale of projects developed by Canadian Solar in Mexico and strengthens our position in this growing electricity market," said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar. "We are pleased to have partnered again with KEPCO, a global energy leader, and financial investor like Sprott and look forward to continuing our successful collaboration."
"The transaction represents the best co-investment structure that can be deployed by strategic and financial investors in terms of collaboration among three partners and investment stage," said CEO of Sprott Asia, Jay Lee. "Based on the strong partnership with KEPCO and Canadian Solar built in the last two transactions, we expect to develop further investment opportunities in the U.S and Europe, as well as in Latin America."
About Canadian Solar Inc.
Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 in Canada and is one of the world's largest and foremost 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 18 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 38 GW of premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers in over 150 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.
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 April 25, 2019. 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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