Recurrent Energy Closes $112 Million in Project Financing, Announces Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority as Customer for 160 MW Oklahoma Solar Project
GUELPH, ON, Aug. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ) announced today that Recurrent Energy, its wholly-owned subsidiary for global project development and power services, secured $112 million in project financing for its 160 MW (120 MWac) North Fork Solar project, located 100 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. NordLB acted as Coordinating Lead Arranger and Joint Lead Arranger. Rabobank acted as Joint Lead Arranger. The project is expected to be operational in 2024.
Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA), which serves 42 municipally-owned electric systems in Oklahoma, will purchase 100% of the energy produced by North Fork Solar under a 15-year agreement. OMPA's power purchase agreement with Recurrent Energy marks the municipal utility's first solar energy transaction. OMPA's power supply comes from a variety of resources, including 151 MW of Oklahoma wind.
"OMPA is extremely excited to add North Fork Solar to our portfolio of energy resources. This will continue to diversify our energy mix and increase the amount of non-carbon resources for the benefit of our member cities," stated David Osburn, OMPA General Manager.
North Fork Solar represents Recurrent Energy's first project in Oklahoma and first project in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), the bulk electric grid and wholesale power market operator across 15 states in the central U.S. Solar energy currently makes up less than 1 percent of the energy resource mix in SPP.
"We are pleased to support Recurrent Energy on another project financing as Coordinating Lead Arranger. Our team values the long-standing relationship with the Recurrent Energy team as we collectively continue to adapt and innovate around an evolving market. North Fork Solar takes no exception and further diversifies our portfolio within the SPP market. We look forward to continuing our long-standing partnership with Recurrent Energy especially as they execute on their ambitious energy transition pipeline," said Sondra Martinez, Managing Director, Nord/LB.
Recurrent Energy selected Blattner Energy as the engineering, procurement and construction partner for North Fork Solar. Once operational, the project will produce enough electricity to power 35,000 homes.
Recurrent Energy began development of North Fork Solar in 2018. Once construction is completed, Recurrent Energy will own and operate the project through its Power Services business as a part of its commitment to growing the number of renewable energy projects in its operating assets portfolio.
Ismael Guerrero, CEO of Recurrent Energy, commented, "As Recurrent Energy ramps up investment in its diverse project pipeline and increases its project ownership, we're delighted today to announce the close of project financing for North Fork Solar in Oklahoma with our trusted partners – NordLB and Rabobank. Oklahoma has long been known for its rich wind resource, and now OMPA's customers will benefit from low-cost solar energy to complement the wind energy in their portfolio."
About Canadian Solar Inc.
Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 in Canada and is one of the world's largest solar technology and renewable energy companies. It is a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules, provider of solar energy and battery storage solutions, and developer of utility-scale solar power and battery storage projects with a geographically diversified pipeline in various stages of development. Over the past 22 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 102 GW of premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers across the world. Likewise, since entering the project development business in 2010, Canadian Solar has developed, built, and connected over 9 GWp of solar power projects and over 3 GWh of battery storage projects across the world. Currently, the Company has approximately 700 MWp of solar power projects in operation, 8 GWp of projects under construction or in backlog (late-stage), and an additional 17 GWp of projects in advanced and early-stage pipeline. In addition, the Company has a total battery storage project development pipeline of 52 GWh, including approximately 2 GWh under construction or in backlog, and an additional 50 GWh at advanced and early-stage development. Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the solar and renewable energy industry, having been publicly listed on the 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, regulatory and economic conditions and the state of the solar and battery storage market and industry; geopolitical tensions and conflicts, including impasses, sanctions and export controls; volatility, uncertainty, delays and disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic; supply chain disruptions; 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., China, Brazil and Europe; changes in effective tax rates; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; changes in corporate responsibility, especially environmental, social and governance ("ESG") requirements; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in or failure to timely adjust 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 that customers demand; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange and inflation rate fluctuations; uncertainties related to the CSI Solar carve-out listing; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 18, 2023. 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. INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACTS
Isabel Zhang
Investor Relations
Canadian Solar Inc.
investor@canadiansolar.com
David Pasquale
Global IR Partners
+1 914-337-8801
csiq@globalirpartners.com
RECURRENT ENERGY MEDIA INQUIRIES
Ally Copple
Innovant Public Relations
713-201-8800
Ally@InnovantPR.com
SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.
