Canadian Solar Inc., has announced it has sold four utility-scale solar power plants to home grown renewable energy firm BluEarth for C$225 million (AU$230.1 million).
The four plants will have a total capacity of 38.5 megawatts and are part of a Canadian Solar’s 29-project solar plan for Ontario, Canada. When completed, the solar project will have a capacity of approximately 400 megawatts.
Canadian Solar estimates the resale value of entire project at C$1.5 billion (AU$1.54 billion). A 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Ontario Power Authority will help ensure BluEarth reaches its goal of leveraging $1 billion in renewable energy projects.
“These projects are a great fit with our existing renewable energy plants and projects, moving us closer to our goal of $1 billion of high-quality, long-term contracted renewable energy plants. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Canadian Solar both in the delivery of these high-quality projects and on potential future projects.” said Kent Brown, President and CEO of BluEarth.
Construction of the four utility-scale solar plants is expected to begin this year with commercial operations commencing in 2014. In a purely in-house arrangement, a total of 186,000 Canadian Solar CS6X solar panels will be installed across the four plants, creating 400 new jobs for Canadians and generating enough clean energy for approximately 6,878 Ontario homes.
“BluEarth’s focus on promoting the responsible use of renewable resources is directly aligned with our goal of contributing to the growth of solar powered energy in Canada,” said Dr. Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar. “Development of these utility-scale solar power plants will contribute to job creation in the Ontario market during the construction phase, while also extending our position as a leading provider of solar energy solutions in Canada.”
Canadian Solar has delivered four gigawatts of solar capacity in 50 countries, including Australia.
