Canadian Solar Begins Construction of 100 MWac Utility-Scale Solar Power Plant in Ontario

GUELPH, Ontario, Oct. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar"), one of the world's largest solar power companies, today announced that its subsidiary, Canadian Solar Solutions Inc., has begun construction of the 100 MWac Grand Renewable Solar Project utility-scale solar farm. The Grand Renewable Solar Project is Canada's largest photovoltaic ("PV") project, and is being financed by Connor Clark & Lunn Infrastructure and developed by Samsung Renewable Energy Inc. ("Samsung"). 

Under the previously announced agreement, the solar power plant is expected to be fully operational in 2015. This agreement is expected to generate revenue of approximately C$310 million (USD$301.1 million) for Canadian Solar, including Engineering, Procurement and Construction ("EPC") services, which were awarded to Canadian Solar by Grand Renewable Solar LP ("GRS") in June 2013. 

The 100 MWac utility-scale solar power plant, which is located in the Haldimand County, will include approximately 440,000 Canadian Solar CS6X high performance modules. The PV modules and Medium Voltage Power Stations will be manufactured in the partnership's new London, Ontario, Canada facility, which will also supply other Samsung solar projects in Ontario. The facility alone is expected to bring 200 local manufacturing jobs to London by the end of 2013, as promised in the Green Energy Investment Agreement (GEIA) between Samsung and the Government of Ontario. In total, Samsung's GEIA project is expected to create 9,000 renewable energy jobs across the province. 

"Samsung is thankful to become part of this supportive community in Haldimand and proud of this historic partnership with Six Nations," said Mr. KJ. Kim, Executive Vice President, Samsung C&T. "The Grand Renewable Solar Project will create hundreds of high-skilled jobs that will benefit real people in this community."

"We thank Samsung and Connor Clark & Lunn Infrastructure, as we enthusiastically move to the construction phase of this landmark project. When completed, this will be Canada's largest PV project ever built. We are highly confident in our team's ability to complete this large-scale project on schedule and on budget, while creating new employment opportunities and achieving the optimum power efficiency generation target levels anticipated to be delivered by the project," commented Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar Inc.

"We are pleased to have Canadian Solar as our construction partner and panel supplier on this groundbreaking project," said Matt O'Brien, president of Connor Clark & Lunn Infrastructure. "As the largest manufacturer of solar panels in Ontario and among the leading integrated solar companies in the world, Canadian Solar is uniquely positioned to deliver on this unique construction project."

About Connor Clark & Lunn Infrastructure

Connor, Clark & Lunn Infrastructure invests in middle-market infrastructure and infrastructure-like assets with highly attractive risk-return characteristics, long lives and the potential to generate stable cash flow. Connor Clark & Lunn Infrastructure is a part of Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group Ltd., a multi-boutique asset management firm whose affiliates collectively manage over $46 billion in assets. For more information, please visit www.cclgroup.com.

About Samsung Renewable Energy Inc.

Samsung Renewable Energy is creating clean, renewable energy for generations to come. Together with our partners, Samsung is making a $5-billion investment in Ontario to create the world's largest cluster of wind and solar power. Our investments will create 900 direct renewable energy manufacturing jobs and 9,000 high-skilled jobs in Ontario. Built on Samsung C&T's commercial and technical expertise and the success of its renewable energy projects in several countries – including the United States and Europe – Samsung is creating real jobs, through real investment, benefitting real people. For more information, please visit www.samsungrenewableenergy.ca.

About Canadian Solar

Founded in 2001 in Canada, Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) is one of the world's largest and foremost solar power companies. As a leading vertically integrated provider of solar modules, specialized solar products and solar power plants with operations in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and Asia, Canadian Solar has delivered more than 5GW of premium quality solar modules to customers in over 70 countries. Canadian Solar is committed to improve the environment and dedicated to provide advanced solar energy products, solutions and services to enable sustainable development around the world. For more information, please visit www.canadiansolar.com.

Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These statements are made under the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by such terms as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "estimates," the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the risks regarding general business and economic conditions and the state of the solar industry; governmental support for the deployment of solar power; future available supplies of high-purity silicon; demand for end-use products by consumers and inventory levels of such products in the supply chain; changes in demand from significant customers; changes in demand in our project markets, including Canada; changes in customer order patterns; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in average selling prices; delays in new product introduction; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features customers demand; utility-scale project approval process; delays in utility-scale project construction; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange rate fluctuations; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 26, 2013. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All information provided in this press release is as of today's date, unless otherwise stated, and Canadian Solar undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.