Canadian Solar begins Construction of Canada's largest photovoltaic project

Guelph, Canada - Canadian Solar announced that its subsidiary, Canadian Solar Solutions Inc., has begun construction of the 100 MW ac Grand Renewable Solar Project utility-scale solar farm, which will be Canada's largest photovoltaic ("PV") project.

The solar plant is being financed by Connor Clark & Lunn Infrastructure and developed by Samsung Renewable Energy Inc. Under the previously announced agreement, the solar power plant is expected to be fully operational in 2015. This agreement is expected to generate revenue of approximately 310 million Canadian Dollar for Canadian Solar.

The 100 MW ac utility-scale solar power plant, which is located in the Haldimand County, will include approximately 440,000 Canadian Solar CS6X high performance modules. The PV modules and Medium Voltage Power Stations will be manufactured in the partnership's new London, Ontario, Canada facility, which will also supply other Samsung solar projects in Ontario. The facility alone is expected to bring 200 local manufacturing jobs to London by the end of 2013, as promised in the Green Energy Investment Agreement (GEIA) between Samsung and the Government of Ontario. In total, Samsung's GEIA project is expected to create 9,000 renewable energy jobs across the province.

"We thank Samsung and Connor Clark & Lunn Infrastructure, as we enthusiastically move to the construction phase of this landmark project. When completed, this will be Canada's largest PV project ever built. We are highly confident in our team's ability to complete this large-scale project on schedule and on budget, while creating new employment opportunities and achieving the optimum power efficiency generation target levels anticipated to be delivered by the project," commented Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar Inc.

Source: IWR Online, 17 Oct 2013