Canadian Solar wins five power projects in Brazil

Courtesy of Sandia National Labs
Canadian Solar, one of the world's largest solar power companies, announced Thursday that the company won five solar photovoltaic projects totaling 185 megawatts in Pirapora, in the state in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The firm will develop and build the solar power plants which, once connected to the grid, will sell the electricity generated to a Brazilian government entity under a 20-year power purchase agreement at $84 per megawatt hour.

"This win in Brazil demonstrates the strength of our global project development capabilities, and positions us well to become a solar energy leader in this important emerging market," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar Shawn Qu said. "Brazil has significant solar resources and a large energy market which provides us with an opportunity to stablish our brand, take market share and deliver good results for our shareholders."

The five projects are targeted to reach commercial operation in mid-2017. The company will short list potential equity partners for these projects and believes that it can make adequate developer margins should it decide to sell them.