Canadian Solar announced new solar project completions during this week, two in Japan and two in California, USA. The sum capacity of the four projects reaches 243.7MWp.

Japan portfolio expanded

On January 18, Canadian Solar unveiled the commercial operation of the 10.2MWp solar project in Aomori Prefecture and the 2.5MWp project in Saitama Prefecture. The completion and commercial operation of these two projects brought Canadian Solar’s total solar portfolio in Japan to 58.51MWp.

"This (successful grid connection of the two projects) represents another milestone for our energy business strategy, and we look forward to continuing to deliver additional solar projects as we build out our portfolio of high value operating solar energy plants in Japan," stated Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar.

The Aomori project utilizes 39,248 Canadian Solar CS6P-P modules and achieved commercial operation on December 27, 2016. It is expected to generate 11,695MWh of electricity per year, and the electricity will be sold back to Tohoku Electric Power under a FiT rate of JPY 36/kWh.

The Saitama project uses 9,240 Canadian Solar CS6P-P modules and reached commercial operation on December 22, 2016. The electricity generated from the plant, approximately 2,978 MWh annually, will be purchased by Tokyo Electric Power  at a FiT rate of JPY32/kWh.

Recurrent Energy’s new achievements

Canadian Solar’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, has reached commercial operation of the adjacent 131 MWp Astoria and 100 MWp Astoria 2 solar projects located in Kern County, California.

Both Astoria and Astoria 2 projects were commenced operation in late 2016. With the new achievements, Recurrent Energy’s 2016 project portfolio exceeded 1.2GW.

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.

(Photo: Astoria solar project. Source: Recurrent Energy)