{"id":687,"date":"2021-04-23T17:04:56","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T08:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/?p=687"},"modified":"2021-05-10T18:27:13","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T09:27:13","slug":"canadian-solar-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2020-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/2021\/687.html","title":{"rendered":"CANADIAN SOLAR REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR 2020 RESULTS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>GUELPH, ON,\u00a0March 18, 2021\u00a0\/PRNewswire\/ &#8212;<span style=\"color: #993300;\">\u00a0<a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.canadiansolar.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Canadian Solar Inc.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>(&#8220;Canadian Solar&#8221; or the &#8220;Company&#8221;) (NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced financial results for the quarter and full year ended\u00a0December 31, 2020.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fourth Quarter 2020 Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Solar module shipments of 3.0 GW at high-end of 2.9 GW to 3.0 GW guidance range.<\/li>\n<li>14% sequential growth in revenue to\u00a0$1,041 million\u00a0exceeds guidance range of\u00a0$980 million\u00a0to\u00a0$1,015 million.<\/li>\n<li>Gross margin of 13.6% exceeds guidance of 8% to 10%.<\/li>\n<li>Net income attributable to\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0of\u00a0$7 million, or\u00a0$0.11\u00a0per diluted share.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Full Year 2020 Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>32% annual growth in total module shipments to 11.3 GW, in line with guidance.<\/li>\n<li>9% annual growth in net revenue to\u00a0$3.5 billion.<\/li>\n<li>Net income attributable to\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0of\u00a0$147 million\u00a0or\u00a0$2.38\u00a0per diluted share.<\/li>\n<li>1.4 GWp of projects sold globally in 2020 with 20 GWp solar project pipeline.<\/li>\n<li>Won nearly 1 GWh of battery storage contracts. Expect to deliver and capture approximately 10% market share in the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0in 2021.<\/li>\n<li>Nearly 9 GWh of total battery storage project pipeline.<\/li>\n<li>Carve-out IPO of\u00a0CSI Solar\u00a0subsidiary, formerly mainly the Module and System Solutions (&#8220;MSS&#8221;) business, on track.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fourth Quarter 2020 Results<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Total module shipments in the fourth\u00a0quarter of 2020 were 2,998 MW, an increase of 22% year-over-year (&#8220;yoy&#8221;) and decrease of 5% quarter-over-quarter (&#8220;qoq&#8221;). Of the total, 359\u00a0MW\u00a0was shipped\u00a0to the Company&#8217;s own utility-scale solar power projects.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Net revenue in the fourth quarter of 2020 grew by 13% yoy and 14% qoq to $1,041 million. The sequential increase was driven by higher project sales<span id=\"spanHghltc832\">\u00a0spanning\u00a0the United States,\u00a0Mexico,\u00a0Japan,\u00a0Canada\u00a0and\u00a0Italy,<\/span>\u00a0and a slightly higher module average selling price (&#8220;ASP&#8221;), which was partly offset by lower module shipments.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2020 was\u00a0$141 million, down 21% qoq.\u00a0Gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2020 was 13.6%, compared to guidance of 8% to 10%, and 19.5% in the third\u00a0quarter of 2020.\u00a0The gross margin decline was mainly driven by the previously anticipated increase in manufacturing costs, which was partly offset by higher module ASP and a more favorable mix.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Total operating expenses in the fourth quarter of 2020 were $139\u00a0million compared to\u00a0$119 million in the third\u00a0quarter of 2020.\u00a0The\u00a0sequential\u00a0increase was primarily driven by higher shipping expenses and an impairment charge related to certain manufacturing assets.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Non-cash depreciation and amortization charges in the fourth quarter of 2020 were $59\u00a0million,\u00a0compared to $56\u00a0million in the third\u00a0quarter of 2020, and\u00a0$45 million\u00a0in the fourth\u00a0quarter of 2019.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Net foreign exchange gain\u00a0in the fourth quarter of 2020 was\u00a0$4 million, compared to a net loss of\u00a0$13 million\u00a0in the third\u00a0quarter of 2020 and a net loss of\u00a0$3 million\u00a0in the fourth\u00a0quarter of 2019.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Income tax benefit in the fourth quarter of 2020 was\u00a0$2 million, compared to\u00a0$21 million\u00a0of income tax expense in the third\u00a0quarter of 2020 and\u00a0$25 million\u00a0of income tax expense in the fourth\u00a0quarter of 2019.\u00a0The benefit was driven by higher expected utilization of tax losses carried forward due to expansion in manufacturing capacity and improvement in process efficiency at the Company&#8217;s factories.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Net income attributable to\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0in the fourth\u00a0quarter of 2020 was $7\u00a0million, or\u00a0$0.11\u00a0per diluted share, compared to net income of\u00a0$9 million, or\u00a0$0.15\u00a0per diluted share in the third\u00a0quarter of 2020.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Net cash provided by operating activities in the fourth\u00a0quarter of 2020 was\u00a0<span id=\"spanHghlte283\">$120\u00a0million<\/span>, compared to\u00a0$47 million\u00a0provided by operating activities\u00a0in the third\u00a0quarter of 2020.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>New Corporate Structure<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In\u00a0July 2020, the Company announced its plan to carve-out and publicly list its Module and System Solutions (&#8220;MSS&#8221;) subsidiary,\u00a0CSI Solar Co., Ltd.\u00a0(&#8220;CSI Solar&#8221;), in\u00a0China. In preparation for the listing, the Company successfully completed the restructuring of its business segments during the fourth quarter of 2020. The table below is a summary comparison of the adjustments made in reporting structures. The main change being the transfer and inclusion of the China Energy business within the scope of\u00a0CSI Solar.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As of\u00a0December 31, 2020,\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0owned 80% of\u00a0CSI Solar, with the remaining 20% owned by strategic investors who purchased\u00a0CSI Solar\u00a0shares during the pre-IPO transaction. An additional 5% of\u00a0CSI Solar\u00a0shares were purchased by\u00a0CSI Solar&#8217;s\u00a0employee stock ownership plan (&#8220;ESOP&#8221;), for which the vesting condition is the successful completion of the IPO. Both the\u00a0CSI Solar\u00a0and Global Energy segments are fully consolidated within\u00a0Canadian Solar.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong><u>Historical reporting structure<\/u><\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong><u>New reporting structure<\/u><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>Module and System Solutions (&#8220;MSS&#8221;) Business<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Solar modules<\/li>\n<li>Solar system kits<\/li>\n<li><span id=\"spanHghlt9762\">Other materials, components and services<br \/>\n(including EPC)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td><strong>CSI Solar\u00a0(entity to be listed in\u00a0China)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Solar modules<\/li>\n<li>Solar system kits<\/li>\n<li>Battery energy storage solutions\u00a0<b><i>\u2013 new<\/i><\/b><\/li>\n<li>China Energy (solar power projects, EPC<br \/>\nservices and electricity revenue)\u00a0<b><i>\u2013 formerly<br \/>\nwithin the Energy Business<\/i><\/b><\/li>\n<li><span id=\"spanHghltc53c\">Other materials, components and services (including EPC)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>Energy Business<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Solar power projects \u2013 includes China Energy<\/li>\n<li>Operations and maintenance (O&amp;M)<\/li>\n<li>Electricity revenue \u2013 includes China Energy<\/li>\n<li>Other development services<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td><strong>Global Energy<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><span id=\"spanHghlt76df\">Solar and energy storage power projects \u2013<br \/>\nglobal excludes China\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>O&amp;M and asset management services<\/li>\n<li><span id=\"spanHghlt11bd\">Other development services \u2013 includes<br \/>\nelectricity revenue for global, excludes\u00a0China<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Battery Storage Opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Company will start reporting revenues from its energy storage business in this quarter.\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0is one of the first movers in developing and supplying energy storage solutions and projects. Given the exponential market opportunities driven by rapid technology improvements, declining battery storage costs, rising penetration of renewable energy and accelerating retirements of fossil fuel capacity, the Company has strategically positioned itself in the battery storage market, both in solar plus battery storage as well as in stand-alone storage opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Canadian Solar\u00a0has a unique advantage in tapping into the large energy storage market opportunities given its position as a global leader both in module manufacturing as well as a solar project development. Thus, both the\u00a0CSI Solar\u00a0and Global Energy segments have focused strategically on their respective energy storage businesses:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Under\u00a0CSI Solar, the battery storage solutions team focuses on delivering bankable, end-to-end, integrated battery storage solutions for utility scale, commercial and industrial, as well as residential applications. These systems solutions will be complemented with long term service agreements, including future battery capacity augmentation services.<\/li>\n<li>Under Global Energy, energy storage project development is now fully integrated within the main solar development teams. Given the segment&#8217;s large and growing pipeline, it is uniquely positioned to capture utility-scale energy storage projects, both co-located with solar PV as well as stand-alone opportunities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>CSI Solar Segment<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The table below sets forth\u00a0Canadian Solar&#8217;s\u00a02021 capacity expansion targets along the solar module value chain. All new capacity will produce\u00a0Canadian Solar&#8217;s\u00a0next generation high-power, high-efficiency modules in the\u00a0<span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.csisolar.com\/module\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">HiKu and BiHiKu product portfolios<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Manufacturing Capacity, GW (period-end)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<table style=\"height: 138px;\" border=\"0\" width=\"427\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td nowrap=\"nowrap\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong><u>FY20 Actual<\/u><\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong><u>1H21<\/u><\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong><u>FY21<\/u><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td nowrap=\"nowrap\">Ingot<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">2.1<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">5.1<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">10.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td nowrap=\"nowrap\">Wafer<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">6.3<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">11.3<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">11.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td nowrap=\"nowrap\">Cell<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">9.6<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">13.4<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">18.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td nowrap=\"nowrap\">Module<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">16.1<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">23.2<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">25.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Note: The Company&#8217;s capacity expansion plans are subject to change without notice based on market conditions and capital allocation plans.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><u>Operating Results<\/u>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The following table presents unaudited select results of operations data of the Company&#8217;s\u00a0CSI Solar\u00a0segment for the periods indicated.<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 387px;\" width=\"691\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" colspan=\"6\" width=\"612\"><strong>CSI Solar Segment Financial Results*\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>(In Thousands of\u00a0U.S.\u00a0Dollars, Except Percentages and Unless Otherwise Stated)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" colspan=\"3\">Three Months Ended<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" colspan=\"2\">Twelve Months Ended<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" width=\"72\">December 31, 2020<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" width=\"72\">September 30,2020<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" width=\"72\">December 31, 2019<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" width=\"72\">December 31, 2020<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" width=\"72\">December 31, 2019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Net revenues<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">784,588<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">921,529<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">772,140<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">3,105,044<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">2,591,154<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cost of revenues<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">678,410<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">738,352<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">574,687<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">2,496,153<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">1,977,502<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Gross profit<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">106,178<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">183,177<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">197,453<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">608,891<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">613,652<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Operating expenses<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">103,378<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">94,936<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">90,742<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">355,786<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">346,010<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Income from operations<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">2,800<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">88,241<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">106,711<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">253,105<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">267,642<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Gross margin<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">13.50%<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">19.90%<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">25.60%<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">19.60%<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">23.70%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Operating margin<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">0.40%<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">9.60%<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">13.80%<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">8.20%<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">10.30%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><i>*<\/i><i>I<\/i><i>ncludes\u00a0<\/i><i>effects of both sales to\u00a0<\/i><i>third part<\/i><i>y customers\u00a0<\/i><i>and to\u00a0<\/i><i>the Company&#8217;s Global En<\/i><i>ergy\u00a0<\/i><i>Segment<\/i><i>.<\/i><i>\u00a0Please refer to the attached financial tables for intercompany transaction elimination information. Income from operations reflects management&#8217;s allocation and estimate as some services are shared by the Company&#8217;s two business segments. Historical values have been revised to conform to current period presentation.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The table below provides the geographic distribution of the net revenue of CSI Solar.<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 253px;\" width=\"787\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" colspan=\"5\" width=\"700\"><strong>CSI Solar Net Revenues Geographic Distribution*<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>(In Millions of\u00a0U.S.\u00a0Dollars, Except Percentages)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">Q4 2020<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">% of Net Revenues<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">Full year 2020<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">% of Net Revenues<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Asia<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">414<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">62<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">1,295<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">47<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Americas<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">149<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">22<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">860<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">31<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Europe\u00a0and others<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">105<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">16<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">595<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Total<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">668<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">100<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">2,750<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Canadian Solar shipped 3 GW of modules to more than 70 countries in the fourth quarter of 2020. The top five markets ranked by shipments were the Vietnam, China, the U.S., Brazil and Australia. For the full year of 2020, the top five markets ranked by shipments were the U.S., Vietnam, China, Brazil and Japan.<i>*Excludes sales from\u00a0CSI Solar\u00a0to Global Energy.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><u>Battery Storage Solutions<\/u><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Company is one of the early movers in developing system solutions and energy storage integration services. Within\u00a0CSI Solar, the battery storage solutions team delivers competitive turnkey, integrated battery storage solutions, including bankable and fully wrapped capacity and performance guarantees. These guarantees are complemented with long term operations and maintenance agreements, which include future battery capacity augmentation services and bring in longer term stable income.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The table below sets forth\u00a0<strong>CSI Solar&#8217;s\u00a0battery storage system integration&#8217;s<\/strong>\u00a0contracted projects and\/or under construction, those in high probability forecast, and pipeline as of\u00a0January 31, 2021.<\/p>\n<div>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td nowrap=\"nowrap\"><\/td>\n<td nowrap=\"nowrap\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Contracted\/<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>In Construction<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>Forecast<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>Pipeline<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>Total<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td nowrap=\"nowrap\">Storage (MWh)<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">861<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">1,400<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">3,646<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">5,907<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Contracted\/in construction projects are expected to be delivered within the next 12 to 18 months. Forecast projects include those that have more than 75% probability of being contracted within the next 12 months, and the remaining pipeline includes projects that have been identified but have a below 75% probability of being contracted.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><u>Total Solar Project Pipeline<\/u><\/em><\/p>\n<p>As\u00a0January 31, 2021, the Company&#8217;s total project pipeline was 20.2 GWp, including, 1.6 GWp under construction, 3.8 GWp of backlog, and 14.8 GWp of earlier stage pipeline. The backlog includes projects that have passed their Risk Cliff Date and are expected to be built in the next one to four years. A project&#8217;s Risk Cliff Date depends on the country where the project is located and is defined as the date on which the project passes the last high-risk development stage. This is usually after the projects have received all the required environmental and regulatory approvals, interconnection agreements, feed-in tariff (&#8220;FIT&#8221;) arrangements and power purchase agreements (&#8220;PPAs&#8221;). Over 90% of projects in backlog are contracted (i.e., have secured a PPA or FIT), and the remaining are reasonably assured of securing PPAs.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Company&#8217;s pipeline includes early- to mid-stage project opportunities currently under development but that are yet to be de-risked.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The following table presents the Company&#8217;s full pipeline as of\u00a0January 31, 2021.<\/p>\n<table width=\"647\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" colspan=\"6\" width=\"647\"><strong>Total Project Pipeline (as of\u00a0January 31, 2021) \u2013 MWp<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">Region<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">In Construction<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">Backlog<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">Pipeline<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">Total<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">North America<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">328<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">728<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">5,030<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">6,086<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\" colspan=\"2\">Latin America<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">731*<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">2,229*<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">3,495<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">6,455<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">Europe, the\u00a0Middle East\u00a0and\u00a0Africa\u00a0(&#8220;EMEA&#8221;)<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8211;<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">429*<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">2,912<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">3,341<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">Japan<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">159<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">121<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">24<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">304<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">Asia Pacific\u00a0excluding\u00a0Japan\u00a0and\u00a0China<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">345<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">191<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">1,810<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">2,346<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">China\u00a0(part of\u00a0CSI Solar)<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8211;<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">125<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">1,500<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">1,625<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">Total<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">1,563<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">3,823<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">14,771<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\">20,157<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"6\">Note: Gross MWp size of projects includes 510 MWp and\u00a063\u00a0MWp of projects in construction and backlog, respectively, in\u00a0Latin America, and 129 MWp in backlog in EMEA, that are not owned by\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0or have been sold to third parties.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Company has a sizable amount of premium, high FIT projects in\u00a0Japan. The table below sets forth the expected COD schedule of the Company&#8217;s project backlog in development and construction in\u00a0<strong>Japan<\/strong>, as of\u00a0January 31, 2021:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Expected COD Schedule\u00a0\u2013\u00a0MWp\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 216pt;\" border=\"0\" width=\"288\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<colgroup>\n<col style=\"width: 54pt;\" span=\"4\" width=\"72\" \/> <\/colgroup>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 18.75pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl65\" style=\"height: 18.75pt; width: 54pt; text-align: center;\" width=\"72\" height=\"25\"><strong><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; outline: none !important;\">2021<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl65\" style=\"width: 54pt; text-align: center;\" width=\"72\"><strong><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; outline: none !important;\">2022<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl65\" style=\"width: 54pt; text-align: center;\" width=\"72\"><strong><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; outline: none !important;\">2023 and Thereafter<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl65\" style=\"width: 54pt; box-sizing: border-box; border-top-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-left-color: initial; outline: none !important; text-align: center;\" width=\"72\"><strong><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; outline: none !important;\">Total<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 18.75pt;\">\n<td class=\"xl65\" style=\"height: 18.75pt; text-align: center;\" height=\"25\"><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; outline: none !important;\">63<\/span><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl65\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; outline: none !important;\">167<\/span><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl65\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; outline: none !important;\">50<\/span><\/td>\n<td class=\"xl65\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; outline: none !important;\">280<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><u>Solar Power Plants in Operation<\/u><\/em><\/p>\n<p>As of\u00a0January\u00a031, 2021, the Company&#8217;s power plants in operation totaled 493 MWp, with a combined estimated net resale value of approximately $620\u00a0million to\u00a0Canadian Solar. The estimated resale value is based on selling prices that\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0is currently negotiating or transaction prices of similar assets in the relevant markets.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>Latin America<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>Japan<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>Asia Pacific\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>ex.\u00a0Japan\u00a0&amp;\u00a0China<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>China<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>Total<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">100<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">75<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">61<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">257<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>493<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><i>Note: Gross MWp size of projects, includes\u00a0<\/i><i>26<\/i><i>\u00a0MWp in\u00a0Asia Pacific\u00a0ex.\u00a0Japan\u00a0already sold to third parties. Also includes 61 MWp of projects in\u00a0Japan\u00a0which were sold in\u00a0March 2021.\u00a0China\u00a0portfolio is part of\u00a0CSI Solar.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><u>Total Battery Storage Project Pipeline<\/u><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Global Energy segment has been actively developing utility-scale solar plus energy storage projects, as well as stand-alone battery storage projects. Over the past year,\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0has signed several new storage tolling agreements with a variety of power purchasers, including community choice aggregators, investor-owned utilities, universities, and public utility districts. The Company has also signed development services agreements to retrofit operational solar projects with battery storage, many of which were previously developed by the Company.\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0is uniquely positioned to deliver energy storage solutions to its customers, especially in solar plus storage solutions, given its proprietary integrated technologies and expertise in battery storage system integration and its unique positioning as both a top-tier module manufacturer and global project developer.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The table below sets forth\u00a0<strong>Global Energy&#8217;s storage project development<\/strong>\u00a0backlog and pipeline as of\u00a0January 31, 2021.<\/p>\n<div>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td nowrap=\"nowrap\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>In Operation<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>In Construction<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>Backlog<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>Pipeline<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\"><strong>Total<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">Storage (MWh)<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">3<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">913<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">1,388<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">6,467<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" nowrap=\"nowrap\">8,771<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p id=\"PURL\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Cision\" src=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/img\/favicon.png?sn=CN14097&amp;sd=2021-03-18\" alt=\"Cision\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" \/>\u00a0View original content:<span style=\"color: #993300;\"><a id=\"PRNURL\" style=\"color: #993300;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/canadian-solar-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2020-results-301250050.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/canadian-solar-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2020-results-301250050.html<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>SOURCE\u00a0Canadian Solar Inc.<\/p>\n<p>Investor Relations Contacts: Isabel Zhang, Investor Relations, Canadian Solar Inc., investor@canadiansolar.com; David Pasquale, Global IR Partners, Tel: +1-914-337-8801, csiq@globalirpartners.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GUELPH, ON,\u00a0March 18, 2021\u00a0\/PRNewswire\/ &#8212;\u00a0Canadian Solar Inc.\u00a0(&#8220;Canadian Solar&#8221; or the &#038;#822 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-results"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":725,"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687\/revisions\/725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}