Canadian Solar, KEPCO and Sprott Close US$93 Million Non-Recourse Financing with SMBC for the Tastiota Project in Mexico

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Oct 06, 2020, 07:00 ET

GUELPH, ON, Oct. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), announced today the financial close of its 126 MWp Tastiota project in the state of Sonora, Mexico. The non-recourse financing package, arranged by Canadian Solar, was provided by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation ("SMBC"). SMBC acted as Sole Structuring Bank and Mandated Lead Arranger in the transaction.

The Tastiota financing package consists of a US$67 million senior loan, US$15 million letter of credit facility, and a US$12 million VAT facility covering the construction and operational phase of the project.

Following the sale in November 2019 of the 49% interest in a 370 MWp portfolio of Mexican projects to Korea Electric Power Corporation ("KEPCO"), South Korea's largest electric utility, and Sprott Korea ("Sprott"), a leading fund manager, these parties have entered into an agreement to acquire Canadian Solar's remaining interest in the projects following their commercial operation date.

The Tastiota project was awarded a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) during Mexico's third energy auction. Electricity generated by the project will be sold to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), under a 15-year PPA for energy and capacity, and 20-year for Clean Energy Certificates. The 126 MWp solar power plant will utilize high efficiency BiHiKu modules supplied by Canadian Solar and is expected to begin operations at the end of 2020.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar, commented, "We are very pleased to partner with SMBC to support Mexico's green strategy and renewable energy goals. We are also delighted to collaborate with our global partners KEPCO and Sprott to advance this project. The closing of this non-recourse project finance during these extraordinary times is a strong sign of financial markets' confidence in Canadian Solar's vision and ability to deliver clean solar energy in Mexico and Latin America more broadly. I am proud of our teams' accomplishments in contracting 436 MWp of PPAs in Mexico, which is part of a broader 2.9 GWp portfolio of project backlog across Latin America. We remain focused on serving this market and maintaining our valued relationships with energy regulators, investors, customers, suppliers and business counterparties, as well as supporting continued job creation across the renewable energy sector."

About Canadian Solar Inc.

Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 in Canada and is one of the world's largest and foremost solar power companies. It is a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules and provider of solar energy solutions and has a geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale power projects in various stages of development. Over the past 19 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 46 GW of premium quality modules to customers in over 150 countries around the world. Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the solar industry, having been publicly listed on 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 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 from major markets such as Japan, the U.S., India and China; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in 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; delays in the process of qualifying to list the Module and System Solutions subsidiary in the PRC; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features customers demand; 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, 2020. 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.

SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.