Canadian Solar Closes US$45 Million Financing for Mexican Power Project

Canadian Solar Inc. announced it has closed a US$45 million financing with Natixis, an arm of Groupe BPCE, the second largest banking group in France. Proceeds from the non-recourse financing will be used to construct the Company’s 68MWp solar power project in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Canadian Solar was awarded the Aguascalientes project during the 2016 inaugural Mexico energy auction. Electricity generated by the project will be sold to Comisión Federal de Electricidad, under a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for energy and capacity, and 20-year for Clean Energy Certificates for approximately US$47.95/MWh.

The Aguascalientes solar project will utilize over 200,000 high-efficiency CS6U-P poly modules supplied by Canadian Solar. The construction of the project started in April and is expected to reach commercial operation in December 2018. As the Aguascalientes region boasts some of the highest levels of solar irradiation in the world, the project is expected to meet the electricity demand of approximately 60,000 local homes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide.

“This is Canadian Solar’s first solar power project in Mexico and our first time working with Natixis. I expect more to come in this rapidly growing market,” commented Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar Inc. “We have a 436 MWp pipeline of late-stage solar projects with PPAs in Mexicoand look forward to collaborating with financial institutions, such as Natixis to, construct these projects.”

Canadian Solar and Natixis worked closely to conclude this transaction in less than two months, a very short time frame for a non-recourse project financing. This showcases the unique expertise and commitment from Natixis and Canadian Solar as well as the strong development attributes of the Aguascalientes solar project.

Natixis recently announced that it will introduce its Green Weighting Factor system for its financing deals to comply with Paris Agreement goals. Natixis’s Green Weighting Factor is intended to allocate capital to promote financings with a positive impact on both the climate and the environment, by adjusting the expected profitability threshold on these various transactions according to their effects on climate change.