Canadian Solar to Construct One of the Largest C&I Solar Rooftop Projects in Malaysia

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Aug 17, 2020, 07:00 ET

GUELPH, ON, Aug. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), announced today that it has commenced construction on one of the largest commercial and industrial ("C&I") rooftop solar projects in Malaysia, in collaboration with Antah Solar Sdn. Bhd. and Eleaps Sdn. Bhd. The 5 MWp project will span an area of over 26,000 m², and is located in Penang, Malaysia.

The 5 MWp power purchase agreement was signed with Muda Paper Mills Sdn Bhd ("Muda Paper"), a subsidiary of Muda Holdings Berhad, listed on the Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad since November 1984 (KLSE: 3883). Muda Paper is the largest industrial-grade paper producer in Malaysia. The project will be powered by 13,000 pieces of Canadian Solar's high-efficiency KuMax modules. Once in operation, the plant is expected to generate approximately 6,700 MWh of clean, reliable solar electricity each year for 25 years. The Company expects the project to reach commercial operation by the end 2020.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar, commented, "This transaction marks our first corporate solar PPA in Southeast Asia. We have secured close to 170 MWp of corporate PPAs across Southeast Asia and Australia since the beginning of 2020, partnering our C&I clients to reduce carbon emissions while cutting operational costs. With our proven track record and established C&I pipeline, we expect to partner with more corporates to capture the growing potential of the global C&I solar market and help our customers to achieve their sustainability goals. We appreciate DEG's funding to support Canadian Solar's expansion across this region."

DEG, or Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, a subsidiary of Germany's development bank KfW Group and one of the world's largest private sector development financiers, will provide the Company with a US$20 million long-term loan facility. This loan matures in 2024 and will be deployed across Canadian Solar's solar pipeline, including the Muda Paper C&I rooftop project, demonstrating the Company's commitment to promote social and environmental goals in its project development activities.

About Canadian Solar Inc.

Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 in Canada and is one of the world's largest 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 solar power projects in various stages of development. Over the past 19 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 46 GW of premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers in over 160 countries. 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.

About Antah Solar Sdn. Bhd.

Antah Solar is a member of the Antah Group. The renewable energy company has an extensive track record in solar PV as developer, IPP and EPC service provider. Its team has executed on over 2 GW of solar installations across 25 countries over the past 10 years.

About Eleaps Sdn. Bhd.

Eleaps has 15 years of experience executing solar installations. The engineering service provider advocates solutions promoting energy conservation and renewable energy. It is among the pioneers of solar PV in Malaysia and has completed ground-mounted and rooftop projects across the country since 2006.

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; 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.