Canadian Solar Inc.\u00a0(the “Company”, or “Canadian Solar”) (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world’s largest solar power companies, today announced it has\u00a0secured\u00a0US$50 million\u00a0in non-recourse project financing for its 100.1 MWp solar power project in Cafayate,\u00a0Salta Province,\u00a0Argentina.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0US$50 million\u00a0non-recourse financing package,\u00a0arranged by CAF –\u00a0Development Bank of Latin America,\u00a0consists of a\u00a0US$30 million\u00a0CAF A-loan with a 15-year tenor, a\u00a0US$15 million\u00a0parallel loan from the\u00a0Argentinian Development Bank of Investment and Foreign Trade\u00a0(BICE) with a 15-year tenor, and a\u00a0US$5 million\u00a0parallel loan from the\u00a0Bank of the City of Buenos Aires\u00a0(Banco de la Ciudad) with a 10-year tenor.<\/p>\n
CAF and\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0have a financing target of\u00a0US$75 million, and are seeking an additional\u00a0US$25 million\u00a0in senior financing which is expected to close in early 2019.<\/p>\n
Canadian Solar’s\u00a0Cafayate Project is financed under the RenovAR program. The program was launched in 2016 to increase energy from renewables sources to 20% of the national electricity energy consumption by 2025. The program comprises 20-year U.S. dollar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with indexation, fiscal incentives for investment in projects, and a three-level guarantee mechanism, including a\u00a0World Bank\u00a0guarantee and the\u00a0Argentina’s\u00a0government guarantee through the\u00a0Trust Fund for Renewable Energy\u00a0(FODER).<\/p>\n
The Cafayate solar project was awarded a U.S. dollar indexed PPA of\u00a0US$56.28\/MWh during the second renewable public tender (RenovAR 1.5).<\/p>\n
The solar project\u00a0is currently under construction and is expected to reach commercial operation in the second quarter of 2019. Approximately 289,800\u00a0Canadian Solar’s\u00a0high efficiency MaxPower\u00a0CS6U-P<\/a>\u00a0345 W modules will be installed. Once energized, the power plant will generate around 239,696 MWh of electricity per year, which will be sold to CAMMESA, the national wholesale power market administrator and clearinghouse.<\/p>\n Dr.\u00a0Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0commented, “We are delighted\u00a0to secure high-quality, long-term financing of up to 15 years which is a testament to the success of the\u00a0Argentina\u00a0government and the\u00a0World Bank\u00a0in designing a robust RenovAR program.\u00a0The program is expected to attract\u00a0US$15 billion\u00a0in renewable energy investments over the next decade\u00a0in\u00a0Argentina. We value our partnership with leading financial institutions across\u00a0Argentina\u00a0and\u00a0Latin America\u00a0to promote the growth of clean renewable energy in the region.”<\/p>\n