Sino-Canadian solar manufacturer, Canadian Solar, has announced it has secured BRL500 million (US$100 million) from two Brazilian banks to fund the development and construction of solar projects in Brazil.
According to a joint press release, the financing facility with banks BTG Pactual and Itaú BBA, will fund “up to 70% of Canadian Solar's equity contributions in a subset of its Brazilian project portfolio.”
Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar said: “We are grateful and pleased to collaborate again with BTG Pactual and Itaú BBA to finance the development and construction of more solar assets in Brazil. With this facility, we can further leverage our equity contribution to build projects in Brazil and monetize them post-COD [commercial operations date] at attractive valuation[s], while maintaining the option to retain meaningful long-term ownership. We look forward to executing on our large backlog and pipeline of solar projects in Brazil and supporting the country's renewable power and energy security goals.”
Canadian Solar set up an office in Brazil in 2013 and has won a string of private auctions and projects since then. Its backlog and pipeline of solar projects in Brazil amounts to close to 3 GWp, with 480 MWp in operation and sold to third parties. A further 483 MWp are under construction and an additional 2 GWp are under development with power purchase agreement contracts. Canadian Solar has developed and built more than 5.7 GWp in more than 20 countries.
The solar manufacturer and project developer said, in its press release, the funding may support a plan to establish a publicly listed vehicle in Brazil, known as a Fundos de Investimento em Participações-Infraestrutura, or FIP-IE, “depending on market conditions.”
Brazil’s PV module demand reached almost 5 GW in 2020, with domestic module makers accounting for just a 3.8% market share by shipping around 190 MW of modules. Canadian Solar has a PV module factory near Sao Paulo with an annual production capacity of 380 MW.
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