Canadian Solar acquires solar power plants in the UK

Canadian Solar Inc., a publicly traded company that manufactures solar PV modules and photovoltaic solar power systems, has acquired six solar power projects totaling 46 MW in the United Kingdom.

Four projects totaling 40.5 MW DC are under construction, and are expected to be connected to the grid in March 2015. An additional two projects totaling 5.5 MW DC are expected to start construction before the end of February, and are expected to be connected to the grid in the second quarter of 2015.

Together, these six projects will produce approximately 50,183 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity per year, which is will displace approximately 38,140 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to removing over 7,276 cars from Britain's roads.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar, stated:

"We are delighted to enter the United Kingdom solar energy market with the acquisition of this portfolio of projects. The United Kingdom is an important and rapidly growing solar market and these transactions provide us with an attractive opportunity to leverage our expertise and balance sheet to redeploy capital to support our growth and create value for our shareholders. We continue to evaluate several opportunities to expand our solar pipeline in the United Kingdom and look forward to making further announcements in the quarters ahead."

Canadian Solar has a geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale solar power projects as well as a track record of successful solar deployment boasting over 8 GW of premium quality modules installed in over 70 countries during the past decade.