Project delivers clean electricity to Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
GUELPH, Ontario, Canada and LOS ANGELES, California, USA, September 29, 2016 – Canadian Solar Inc. (the “Company”, or “Canadian Solar”) (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world’s largest solar power companies, today announced commercial operation of the 60 MWac/78 MWp Barren Ridge solar photovoltaic (PV) project developed by the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary Recurrent Energy. The Barren Ridge solar project, also known as the RE Cinco project, supplies electricity and associated renewable energy credits (RECs) to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) under a long-term power purchase agreement.
“We are proud to work with LADWP to bring solar power to the city of Los Angeles and share their commitment to a clean energy future,” said Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar. “This is the Company’s third U.S. solar project to reach commercial operation this year, a milestone that would not be possible without the hard work and collaboration with our partners.”
LADWP, which was named among the top 10 utilities connecting the most solar megawatts to the power grid in 2015 by the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), will use the clean solar electricity produced by the Barren Ridge solar project to power more than 25,000 homes in Los Angeles.
“We are committed to reaching 50 percent renewables by 2030, and this solar project plays an important role in reaching that goal. In addition, large-scale transmission line projects like our Barren Ridge Renewable Transmission Project facilitates a renewable energy hub that brings a thousand megawatts of wind and solar energy into the city of Los Angeles,” said LADWP Executive Director of Power System Michael Webster. “By utilizing these new transmission lines and systems, LADWP is bringing renewable energy home.”
The Barren Ridge solar project, located in Kern County northwest of Los Angeles, began construction in fall 2015 and created 230 peak construction jobs. In November 2015, U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation (USBCDC), a division of U.S. Bank, made a tax equity investment into the Barren Ridge solar project.
“We’re proud to be part of an environmentally sustainable solution to the tremendous need for energy in the Los Angeles area. Barren Ridge will also have an impact on the region’s economy with the more than 200 jobs it created,” said Adam Altenhofen, vice president of U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation, a division of U.S. Bank.
In addition to building the Barren Ridge solar project, Recurrent Energy constructed two miles of generation transmission lines to connect the solar project to LADWP’s Barren Ridge Switching Station. Construction of these lines can be seen in this video: https://vimeo.com/recurrentenergy/barrenridgesolar.
About LADWP
LADWP is the nation’s largest municipally-owned utility, serving more than 4 million Los Angeles residents. LADWP has provided water and electric service to residents and businesses in Los Angeles for more than 100 years.
About Recurrent Energy
Recurrent Energy, a U.S. subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc., is redefining what it means to be a mainstream clean energy company, with utility-scale solar plants that provide competitive clean electricity. The company has more than 4 GW of solar projects in development in North America. Additional details are available at: www.recurrentenergy.com
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 provider of solar energy solutions, Canadian Solar also has a geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale power projects in various stages of development. In the past 14 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 16 GW of premium quality modules to over 90 countries around the world. Furthermore, 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 regarding the Company’s expected future shipment volumes, gross margins, business prospects and future quarterly or annual results, particularly the management quotations and the statements in the “Business Outlook” section, 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; 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 20, 2016. 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.
Canadian Solar Inc. Contacts
Mary Ma
Senior Supervisor, Investor Relations
Canadian Solar Inc.
investors@canadiansolar.com
David Pasquale
Global IR Partners
Tel: +1-914-337-8801
csiq@globalirpartners.com
Recurrent Energy Media Relations
Tel: +1-415-501-9533
PR@RecurrentEnergy.com
