GUELPH,
ON, April 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/
-- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar")
(NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced that it has won Environmental
Finance's Green Project Bond of the Year award for its JPY 18.5 billion green samurai private
placement.
Canadian Solar completed its three-year, JPY 18.5 billion ($120
million) private placement in 2023. The innovative bond
enhances liquidity and flexibility, empowering Canadian Solar's
global development business, Recurrent Energy, to grow its solar
and battery energy storage projects under development and asset
management business.
Environmental Finance is an industry-leading global publication
established in 1999. Its annual Sustainable Debt Awards celebrate
leading green, social, sustainable and sustainability-linked bond
and loan deals and recognize market innovations.
A Sustainable Debt Awards judge commended Canadian Solar's
transaction, noting that while "securitizations of solar assets are
common in the market", the deal was additive because it enabled the
issuer to tap into a wider pool of investors than it previously had
done. Environmental Finance also praised the deal for enabling
Canadian Solar to "plug into the ultra-low interest rate
environment in Japan, where
long-term, fixed-rate products are scarce."
The Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. ("JCR") not only
assigned this structured bond an investment grade rating of "A-,"
but also certified the issuer with the highest Green 1 rating under
the Japanese Green Bond guidelines. Orix Bank
Corporation was designated as the trustee of the bond, and
Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd. ("GS") served as the lead
arranger and sole book runner with domestic bond investors.
This is the second green project bond of the year award Canadian
Solar has received from Environmental Finance, following the one
awarded in 2018 for Canadian Solar's JPY5.4
billion ($47
million) Gunma Aramaki project bond placement with
Goldman Sachs Japan.
Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar,
commented, "We are honored to again receive the Green Project Bond
of the Year, acknowledging our innovative financing strategies for
our global development business. Recurrent Energy continues to
expand in response to growing global demand in renewable energy,
supported by its proven track record in solar and battery energy
storage development and robust financing capabilities."
Makoto Ito, head of the
Financing Group at Goldman Sachs in Japan, said: "Goldman Sachs is proud to be
at the forefront of capital markets activity and innovation, both
globally and in Japan. We are
honored to continue the longstanding partnership with Canadian
Solar to help them achieve their most important strategic and
financing objectives."
Full results of the Environmental Finance's Sustainable Debt
Awards 2024 can be found
at https://www.environmental-finance.com/content/awards/environmental-finances-sustainable-debt-awards-2024/
About Canadian Solar Inc.
Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 in Canada and is one of the world's largest solar
technology and renewable energy companies. It is a leading
manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules, provider of solar
energy and battery energy storage solutions, and developer of
utility-scale solar power and battery energy storage projects with
a geographically diversified pipeline in various stages of
development. Over the past 22 years, Canadian Solar has
successfully delivered over 118 GW of premium-quality, solar
photovoltaic modules to customers across the world. Likewise, since
entering the project development business in 2010, Canadian Solar
has developed, built, and connected around 10 GWp of solar power
projects and 3.3 GWh of battery energy storage projects across the
world. Currently, the Company has approximately 1 GWp of solar
power projects in operation, 7.4 GWp of projects under construction
or in backlog (late-stage), and an additional 19.9 GWp of projects
in advanced and early-stage pipeline. In addition, the Company has
600 MWh of battery energy storage projects in operation and a total
battery energy storage project development pipeline of
approximately 55 GWh, including approximately 3.5 GWh under
construction or in backlog, and an additional 51 GWh at advanced
and early-stage development. Canadian Solar is one of the most
bankable companies in the solar and renewable energy industry,
having been publicly listed on the 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, regulatory
and economic conditions and the state of the solar and battery
storage market and industry; geopolitical tensions and conflicts,
including impasses, sanctions and export controls; volatility,
uncertainty, delays and disruptions related to the COVID-19
pandemic; supply chain disruptions; 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., China, Brazil
and Europe; changes in effective
tax rates; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product
mix; changes in corporate responsibility, especially environmental,
social and governance ("ESG") requirements; capacity utilization;
level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in or failure
to timely adjust 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 that
customers demand; shortage in supply of materials or capacity
requirements; availability of financing; exchange and inflation
rate fluctuations; litigation and other risks as described in the
Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 26, 2024. 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.
Canadian Solar Inc. Investor Relations Contact
Wina Huang
Investor Relations
Canadian Solar Inc.
investor@canadiansolar.com
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SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.