GUELPH, Ontario, June 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar power companies, today announced that it recently signed two private power purchase agreements ("PPA") with Braskem S.A. and COPEL Energia for a total of 274 MWp in solar power projects in Brazil.
Braskem S.A. ("Braskem", NYSE: BAK) is the largest producer of thermoplastic resins in the Americas and the largest producer of polypropylene in the United States. Braskem is committed to a low carbon economy and has implemented innovative processes to improve its efficiency, competitiveness and sustainability. Braskem will purchase solar energy through a 20-year PPA with Canadian Solar, as it strives to reach its sustainability goals.
For this PPA, Canadian Solar will develop and build a 152 MWp project in the State of Minas Gerais, in the same region as other projects already developed and built by the Company. Construction will start in 2021 and expected to reach commercial operation before the end of 2022. This is the first PPA signed directly between Canadian Solar and an industrial customer in Brazil and sets another landmark for Canadian Solar in this market.
COPEL Energia ("Copel") is part of COPEL Group, one of the top 10 energy trading companies in Brazil and the largest utility in the State of Paraná. For the 15-year PPA with Copel, Canadian Solar will build a 122 MWp project in the State of Pernambuco in 2021 as the second phase of a project already under development by the Company.
Both projects will use Canadian Solar's high efficiency bifacial BiHiKu modules. Once in operation, the combined projects are expected to generate approximately 610 GWh of clean energy annually, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 250,000 households.
These two corporate PPAs will add to Canadian Solar's Brazilian portfolio of more than 1.9 GWp of contracted PPAs since the company entered this market. In the Latin America region, the Company has over 2.6 GWp of awarded and contracted PPAs.
Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar, commented, "Canadian Solar has established a leadership position in the utility scale solar market in Brazil and continues to innovate by setting a new trend yet again with private PPAs. We are pleased to partner with Braskem and Copel in this deal to offer integrated energy solutions to our customers, from solar modules to project development and management services. We have a long-term commitment to solar energy in Brazil and it will remain one of our most important markets."
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 43 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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