Canadian Solar Announces Joint Venture with GCL-Poly in China

News provided by

May 27, 2014, 07:00 ET

GUELPH, Ontario, May 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. ("Canadian Solar" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar power companies, today announced that it has entered into an agreement (the "JV Agreement) with GCL-Poly Solar System Integration (China) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Limited ("GCL", stock code: 3800.HK) to establish a joint venture (the "Joint Venture") to build a manufacturing site to produce crystalline silicon solar cells in Funing, Jiangsu Province, China. Under the terms of the agreement, Canadian Solar will own 80% and GCL will own 20% of the equity in the Joint Venture.

In the initial phase, this new solar cell plant will have 300MW annual production capacity. The Company expects multi-crystalline cell conversion efficiency at the Funing plant to reach 19% by the end of 2014. The new site can accommodate annual production capacity of up to 1.2GW of solar cells, if fully built. The decision to expand beyond the initial phase will be subject to market conditions. With the addition of the Funing plant, Canadian Solar's annual cell manufacturing capacity will total 1,560 MW, up from 1,500MW at the end of 2013.

"We are pleased to deepen our strategic cooperation with Canadian Solar, one of the world's leading solar module suppliers and solar energy solutions provider," commented Mr. Gongshan Zhu, Chairman of GCL-Poly. "By leveraging the competitive advantages of both companies, our goal is to manufacture top quality solar cells at industry leading cost structure to deliver competitive solar energy to homes around the world."

"We are delighted to enter this Joint Venture agreement with GCL, the world's largest wafer producer on this solar cell factory in China. GCL is a key strategic partner and major wafer supplier to Canadian Solar and this agreement further extends the strong partnership between the two companies," said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar. "We believe we are at the very early stages of solar energy adoption around the world, and we continue to see solid market demand for our products. This joint venture further strengthens our position as a global industry leader that can deliver quality modules to meet the growing demand in existing and emerging markets."

Additionally, as previously disclosed, the Company has recently commissioned another module workshop in its flagship factory in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, China, which brings its total annual module production capacity to 3GW.

About GCL-Poly Energy

GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Limited is the world's leading polysilicon and wafer supplier as well as a top green energy investor and operator. The product quality of the Group's polysilicon has reached electronic grade level since 2010. The Group ramped up its annual poly silicon production capacity to 65,000 MT at the end of 2011 and its wafer production capacity reached 10GW at the end of 2013. Moreover, for the solar system integration business, the Group is devoting all its efforts to providing solar farm investors with a one-stop solar system solution from project development, engineering, procurement, construction, financing to operation and management. For more information about GCL-Poly, please visit the company's website at www.gcl-poly.com.hk.

About Canadian Solar

Founded in 2001 in Canada, Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) is one of the world's largest and foremost solar power companies. As a leading vertically integrated provider of solar modules, specialized solar products and solar power plants with operations in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and Asia, Canadian Solar has delivered more than 6 GW of premium quality solar modules to customers in over 70 countries. Canadian Solar is committed to improve the environment and dedicated to provide advanced solar energy products, solutions and services to enable sustainable development around the world. For more information, please 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 the risks regarding general business and economic conditions and the state of the solar industry; 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 in our project markets, including Canada and the Province of Ontario; changes in customer order patterns; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in average selling prices; delays in new product introduction; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features customers demand; utility-scale project approval process; delays in utility-scale project construction; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange rate fluctuations; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 28, 2014. 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. You 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.

SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.