Canadian Solar finances two solar projects in California

Canadian Solar Inc., has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Recurrent Energy has reached commercial operation of the adjacent 100 MWac/131 MWp Astoria and 75 MWac/100 MWp Astoria 2 solar projects located in Kern County, California.

GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of GE, provided a tax equity investment for both projects. Financing for the Astoria project was announced in November 2015. A financing announcement for the Astoria 2 facility followed in January 2016. Both projects employ GE's state-of-the-art solar inverter technology.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company will buy electricity and associated renewable energy credits (RECs) generated by the Astoria project under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA). Electricity and associated RECs from the Astoria 2 project will be purchased by the Southern California Public Power Authority and four of its members (Cities of Azusa, Banning, Colton and Vernon), the Power and Water Resources Pooling Authority, and the Cities of Corona, Lodi, Moreno Valley and Rancho Cucamonga.

Dr. Shawn Qu, chairman and chief executive officer of Canadian Solar said:

"With the help of our trusted partners, the Astoria projects will power more than 40,000 homes with clean energy. These projects, which began operating in late 2016, are part of Recurrent Energy's milestone 1.2 GW 2016 project portfolio."

Kevin Walsh, managing director and head of Renewables at GE Energy Financial Services said:

"It has been a pleasure to work with Recurrent Energy on the Astoria projects and see them through commercial operation. As we continue to invest over $1 billion annually in the U.S. renewable energy market, well-developed assets such as the Astoria projects are critical to our success."