GUELPH, ON,\u00a0April 7, 2021\u00a0\/PRNewswire\/ —\u00a0Canadian Solar Inc.\u00a0(the “Company<\/b>“, or “Canadian Solar<\/b>“) (NASDAQ: CSIQ) announced today that it has commenced construction on four solar projects in\u00a0Japan\u00a0totaling 143 MWp. This portfolio includes\u00a0Canadian Solar’s\u00a0flagship mega-project, the 100 MWp Azuma Kofuji project located in the Fukushima Prefecture, and other projects totaling 43 MWp in the\u00a0Ibaraki\u00a0and Hiroshima Prefectures.<\/p>\n
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The Azuma Kofuji project is\u00a0Canadian Solar’s\u00a0largest project in\u00a0Japan\u00a0to date and is also expected to be among the largest in the country. The project will be powered with\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0high efficiency HiKu modules<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and is expected to reach commercial operation in Q1 2023. The energy generated will be purchased by the Tohoku Electric Power Company at the rate of \u00a536 ($0.34) per kWh.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The project is financed by\u00a0Nomura Capital Investment Co., Ltd.\u00a0(“NCI<\/b>“) with construction debt of\u00a0JPY 24.5 billion\u00a0(approximately\u00a0US$230 million), and will draw on\u00a0Juwi Shizen Energy’s\u00a0experience as a global\u00a0EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) company. Built on 460 acres, Azuma Kofuji is expected to produce enough clean energy to power approximately 31,000 households. The project is expected to participate in the Climate Bonds green certification process which is compatible with the new European Union Green Bond Standard (EU GBS).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We are delighted to contribute our part to revitalize the Fukushima Prefecture. Up until recently, the Azuma Kofuji project site was an abandoned, non-productive farmland. Now, we are directly investing and creating local job opportunities during the construction of the project, reinvigorating the local economy in a region devastated by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. We have worked closely with local communities to ensure that clean, renewable energy from our solar plant creates lasting societal benefits. We are proud to take part in rebuilding economic and energy resilience in the Fukushima hometowns while supporting\u00a0Japan’s\u00a02050 carbon neutrality ambitions,” commented\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of\u00a0Canadian Solar.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He added, “These projects continue to expand\u00a0Canadian Solar’s\u00a0strong track record in\u00a0Japan. We now have over 450 MWp of utility-scale projects that are operational or under construction, and two partnership platforms in\u00a0Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(TSE: 9284) and\u00a0Japan Green Infrastructure Fund<\/a><\/span>. We are also one of the strongest solar module brands in\u00a0Japan\u00a0driven by our differentiated technology and large manufacturing scale. Put together, we have further solidified\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0as the most integrated solar player in the Japanese market. We thank our financing partners who continue to support\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0with low-cost capital, which allow us to develop and expand our high-quality project portfolio in\u00a0Japan.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Nomura has extensive experience financing renewables in\u00a0Japan\u00a0and is excited to support\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0on this significant transaction,” said Vinod Mukani, Head of Nomura’s Infrastructure and Power Finance group. “Canadian Solar\u00a0is attractively positioned as a tier-1 solar module manufacturer and as a leading global solar developer. Nomura is pleased to provide this financing and partner with strong sponsors contributing toward the transition to a low carbon economy.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n These projects received\u00a0JPY 8.1 billion\u00a0(US$75 million) through the issuance of Green Project Bonds to Japanese bond investors. As a seasoned project bond issuer,\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0has partnered with\u00a0Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd\u00a0(“GS”) as the sole arranger for the sixth time. Once again, the domestic bond investors provided\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0with innovative debt capital that is commercially different to that of the traditional bank facility market. These project bonds combine the unique aspects of having dual-tenor maturity of 2 years and 18 years within each tranche of bond, and blend total funding requirements throughout the construction and operational phase of multiple projects. The\u00a0Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd.\u00a0(“JCR”) has assigned these Multi-Asset Dual-Tenor Green Project Bonds with an investment grade rating of “BBB+” and certified the issuer with highest Green 1 rating under the Japanese Green Bond guidelines.\u00a0Hitachi Capital Trust Corp.\u00a0is appointed as the trustee.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “This will be yet another ground-breaking Green Project Bond transaction brought to the Japanese market by\u00a0Canadian Solar,” said\u00a0Toru Inoue, Goldman Sachs’ Head of Infrastructure & Structured Finance for\u00a0Japan. “We are extremely honored to support\u00a0Canadian Solar’s\u00a0deep-rooted growth in\u00a0Japan. Ever since we took part in\u00a0Canadian Solar’s\u00a0first green project bonds in\u00a02016, we demonstrated our capability to provide differentiated and innovative transactions to achieve the sponsor’s business objectives. The renewables industry is a dynamic sector where creativity and the ability to think outside of the box are extremely important. We look forward to continuing to partner with\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0in its quest to make solar a sustainable mainstream energy.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global financial institution that delivers a broad range of financial services across investment banking, securities, investment management and consumer banking to a large and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in\u00a0New York\u00a0and maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world. Goldman Sachs developed the first Green Project Bonds for the Japanese market in 2013. It has since arranged nineteen project bond transactions and one project equity securitization. Of the twenty transactions six is for\u00a0Canadian Solar.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nomura is a global financial services group with an integrated network spanning over 30 countries. By connecting markets East & West, Nomura services the needs of individuals, institutions, corporates and governments through its three business divisions: Retail, Wholesale (Global Markets and Investment Banking), and Investment Management. Founded in 1925, the firm is built on a tradition of disciplined entrepreneurship, serving clients with creative solutions and considered thought leadership. Nomura’s Infrastructure and Power Finance business provides a diverse pool of financing solutions to project owners globally. For further information about Nomura, visit\u00a0www.nomura.com<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GUELPH, ON,\u00a0April 7, 2021\u00a0\/PRNewswire\/ —\u00a0Canadian Solar Inc.\u00a0(the “Company“, or “Canad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738","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=738"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":742,"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738\/revisions\/742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadiansolar-energy.co.jp\/en\/news_release\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Ibaraki\u00a0and\u00a0Hiroshima\u00a0projects 43 MWp<\/strong><\/h5>\n
About Goldman Sachs<\/h4>\n
About Nomura<\/h4>\n