Canadian Solar Signs Operations & Maintenance Agreements with Solar plus Battery Storage Projects in the U.S.

GUELPH, ON, Sept. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced that it has signed long-term Operations & Maintenance (O&M) agreements with two solar PV plus battery storage projects in the U.S., namely, the Slate and Mustang projects which were both developed by Canadian Solar's subsidiary Recurrent Energy and are currently owned by Goldman Sachs Asset Management Renewable Power (Goldman Sachs).  

The agreements cover the full Slate Project, which is a 300 MWac solar plant designed with a 140 MW / 561 MWh battery energy storage system; and the storage component of the Mustang Project, which is a 100 MWac solar plant retrofitted with a 75 MW / 300 MWh battery storage system. Both projects are located in Kings County, California. Under the long-term agreements, Canadian Solar will be responsible for various O&M obligations across both projects, including plant monitoring, NERC registration, performance management and preventative and corrective maintenance. Canadian Solar services will help to increase site availability, minimize downtime and maximize the value of the projects.

These contracts further solidify Canadian Solar's position as a leading solar and energy storage O&M provider. The Company now boasts with a global O&M portfolio of nearly 4 GWp of solar and 860 MWh of storage projects under contract across nine countries, of which 2.3 GWp of solar projects are currently in operation. These projects include both Canadian Solar as well as third-party developed projects. The Company expects to meaningfully scale its O&M business, targeting to reach 11 GWp of operational solar projects by 2025, expanding its share of stable income.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar said, "As we expand our market leadership position from solar energy into battery storage project development and systems integration, offering operations and maintenance services in battery storage is a natural extension of Canadian Solar's value proposition. We will continue to add value to our customers by providing the best quality service, maximize production of clean renewable energy and enhance the value of solar and battery storage assets through our O&M services. We are delighted to be selected by Goldman Sachs to provide O&M services to both the Mustang and Slate solar and storage projects and look forward to the long-term partnership."

About Canadian Solar Inc.

Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 in Canada and is one of the world's largest solar technology and renewable energy companies. It is a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules, provider of solar energy and battery storage solutions, and developer of utility-scale solar power and battery storage projects with a geographically diversified pipeline in various stages of development. Over the past 20 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 59 GW of premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers across the world. Likewise, since entering the project development business in 2010, Canadian Solar has developed, built and connected over 6.1 GWp in over 20 countries across the world. Currently, the Company has around 400 MWp of projects in operation, nearly 6 GWp of projects under construction or in backlog (late-stage), and an additional 16 GWp of projects in pipeline (mid- to early- stage). Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the solar and renewable energy industry, having been publicly listed on the NASDAQ since 2006. For additional information about the Company, follow Canadian Solar on LinkedIn or visit www.canadiansolar.com.

About Goldman Sachs Asset Management Renewable Power

Bringing together traditional and alternative investments, Goldman Sachs Asset Management provides clients around the world with a dedicated partnership and focus on long-term performance. As the primary investing area within Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), we deliver investment and advisory services for the world's leading institutions, financial advisors and individuals, drawing from our deeply connected global network and tailored expert insights, across every region and market—overseeing more than $2.3 trillion in assets under supervision worldwide as of June 30, 2021. Driven by a passion for our clients' performance, we seek to build long-term relationships based on conviction, sustainable outcomes, and shared success over time. Goldman Sachs Asset Management invests in the full spectrum of alternatives, including private equity, growth equity, private credit, real estate and infrastructure.  Established in 2017, the Renewable Power business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management has sponsored more than 800 solar projects across 27 U.S. states that collectively have a capacity of more than 2.3 gigawatts of clean, renewable power. We take a long-term ownership approach to the operations and management of renewable assets with a leading industry expertise across transaction sourcing, financial analysis, power markets and physical asset analysis and operations. Follow us on LinkedIn.

Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release, including but not limited to the use of proceeds, 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 general business and economic conditions and the state of the solar industry; volatility, uncertainty, delays and disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic; 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 from major markets such as Japan, the U.S., India, China and Brazil; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in average selling prices; delays in new product introduction; delays in utility-scale project approval process; delays in utility-scale project construction; delays in the completion of project sales; delays in the process of qualifying to list the CSI Solar subsidiary in the PRC; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features customers demand; 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 19, 2021. 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. Investors 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.

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SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.