Canadian Solar begins operation on 52.5 MWp of solar plants in Japan

Canadian Solar, a vertically integrated Tier-1 Chinese solar firm, has announced that since the beginning of the year it has successfully connected to the grid 52.5 MWp of solar PV plants across Japan, including the 47.7 MWp Mashiki plant, the 2.4 MWp Yamagata Asahimachi plant, the 1.3 MWp Shizuoka Tashiro plant and the 1.1 MWp Saitama Shiroishi plant.

As its biggest project in the country to date, the Mashiki plant achieved commercial operation in June 2017. Under a 20-year feed-in-tariff contract signed with Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc.  at the rate of JPY36.0 ($0.32) per kWh, Canadian Solar estimates that the plant will generate approximately 57,000 MWh of clean, solar electricity annually.

Brought online in March 2017, the Yamagata Asahimachi, Shizuoka Tashiro and Saitama Shiroishi plants are expected to generate around 5,429 MWh of clean electricity per year, which will be purchased under a 20-year feed-in-tariff contract at the rate of JPY32.0 ($0.28), JPY36.0 ($0.32) and JPY27.0 ($0.24) per kWh respectively.

“We are pleased to have energized the 5a2.5 MWp of solar power plants in Japan. The 47.7 MWp Mashiki plant is the largest solar power plant that we have built there, which brings our total portfolio of projects in operation in Japan to 112.7 MWp,” commented Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar Inc., “This is a milestone as we continue to make progress in developing and delivering our high-value solar project pipeline in this important market.”

In a bid to grow its presence in the world’s third biggest market, Canadian Solar secured significant financing for its Japanese projects earlier this year, such as a financing deal worth JPY 5.4 billion ($47 million) closed with Goldman Sachs Japan to underpin the development of a 19.05 Mwp solar farm and a JPY 4 billion ($36 million) credit facility, which will be used to expand the company’s Japan-based downstream operations.