In the current environment of intense photovoltaic module price competition, manufacturers continue to enter into deals to provide safe harbor for their modules through downstream integration. In the latest deal of this nature, Canadian Solar has purchased 16 solar projects, which have 20-year PPAs with the Ontario Power Authority. The projects, which were issued to SkyPower under Ontarios FIT program and Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program, are in the permitting stage and construction is set to begin in 2013. The plans are for the projects to be operational by 2014.
Canadian Solar has paid US$181 million for the projects, with a US$68 million partial payment having already been made. 9.9 percent of Canadian Solars stock will also go to SkyPower in the deal, at an exercise price of US$5 per share.
The JV formed between Canadian Solar and SkyPower will go by the name of CSI SkyPower and will develop projects in Africa, the Middle East and South America. In these markets, the companies believe, solar power is becoming a competitive power source.
In a statement announcing the purchase deal and JV, Canadian Solars Chairman and CEO Shawn Qu said that they deliver, "Margin stability and business visibility" for the manufacturer. "By aligning two of the solar industry's most powerful companies we will be able to move projects forward faster and more efficiently, thereby directly helping the countries we have a presence in by providing cleaner, sustainable energy and through the creation of jobs."
Popular content
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
Share
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.