EDF Energies Nouvelles and Canadian Solar Commission Two of the Pirapora Solar Energy Projects in Brazil

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Nov 08, 2017, 10:35 ET

GUELPH, Ontario and RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Nov.8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. ("Canadian Solar" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar power companies, and EDF Energies Nouvelles, a global market leader in renewable energy, today announced that the 191.5 MWp Pirapora I and 92.5 MWp Pirapora III solar energy projects in Brazil, totaling 284 MWp, were commissioned in November 2017.

As part of the Pirapora projects (399 MWp), the Pirapora I and III solar projects, located in the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil, were each awarded a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement following respectively the second and the first Reserve Energy Auctions, in 2015 and 2014.

Powered by 600 thousands and 290 thousands of Canadian Solar's high-efficiency CS6U-P modules, the Pirapora I plant and Pirapora III plant generates 392 GWh and 186 GWh of clean, reliable solar electricity per year respectively, contributing towards Brazil's goal of obtaining 23% of its energy from non-hydro renewable sources by 2030.

EDF Energies Nouvelles acquired 80% interest in each of the 191.5 MWp Pirapora I, 115 MWp Pirapora II and 92.5 MWp Pirapora III projects from Canadian Solar. The Pirapora II project is currently under construction and is expected to reach commercial operation in mid-2018.

"We are pleased to announce the commissionings of the Pirapora I and III projects, which are the first solar projects we have connected to the grid in Brazil. We see strong potential in the solar energy market in Brazil and will continue to grow our project pipeline in the country to meet the local demand for clean and affordable solar energy. EDF EN is an important partner and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership with more opportunities in Brazil and other countries." said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar Inc.

Antoine Cahuzac, EDF Group's Senior Executive Vice President Renewable Energies, Chairman and CEO of EDF Energies Nouvelles, added, "These new commissionings constitute further evidence of our growth ambitions in Brazil, a key renewable energy market for the EDF Group. It represents a new step toward the EDF Group's goal of doubling its renewable capacity in France, and worldwide, by 2030 under its CAP 2030 company plan."

About Canadian Solar Inc.

Founded in 2001 in Canada, Canadian Solar is one of the world's largest and foremost solar power companies. As a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules and provider of solar energy solutions, Canadian Solar also has a geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale power projects in various stages of development. In the past 16 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 22 GW of premium quality modules to over 100 countries around the world. Furthermore, 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 EDF Energies Nouvelles

EDF Energies Nouvelles is a market leader in renewable energy electricity, with a portfolio of more than 10 GW gross installed capacity focused for the most part on wind (onshore and offshore) and solar photovoltaic energy. Mostly operating in Europe and North America, EDF Energies Nouvelles continues its development by taking strong positions in promising emerging areas such as Brazil, China, India, or South Africa, and North Africa and Gulf Cooperation Council regions. The Company is also present in other segments of the renewable energy market: marine energy, distributed energies and energy storage. EDF Energies Nouvelles manages renewable energy projects' development and construction as well as operation and maintenance for its own account and for third parties. EDF Energies Nouvelles is a subsidiary of the EDF Group dedicated to renewable energy.

Visit us at www.edf-energies-nouvelles.com
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/edf-energies-nouvelles and Twitter @EDFEN_officiel

Press contacts

Manon de Cassini-Hérail ▪ tel.: +33 (0)1 40 90 48 22 ▪ email: [email protected]
Clarisse Placidoux ▪ tel.: +33 (0)1 40 90 49 46 ▪ email: [email protected]

Canadian Solar Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release regarding the Company's expected future shipment volumes, gross margins, business prospects and future results, 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; cancelation of utility-scale feed-in-tariff contracts in Japan; 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 27, 2017. 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.