Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) sold a 10 megawatt (“MW”) power plant in Beavertown, Ontario, to an affiliate of BluEarth Renewables Inc., a private independent renewable power producer. The transaction is valued at $57 million (C$66 million).
The sale of the utility-scale power plant – SparkleLight – is the third of four utility-scale solar power plants that BluEarth Renewables intends to buy from Canadian Solar. Canadian Solar Solutions has installed CS6X-300/305P modules at SparkleLight.
Yesterday, Ontario-based Canadian Solar completed the sale of two 10-MW solar power plants to Renewable Energy Trust Ontario Holdings (“RET”). The sale of the DiscoveryLight and FotoLight plants is a part of an agreement to sell three utility-scale solar power plants from the Ontario pipeline of Canadian Solar to RET. The sale of the third plant is expected to close early this year.
While DiscoveryLight is situated in Beaverton, FotoLight is located in the Township of Prince Edward County. Both plants have started commercial operations and the electricity generated will be purchased by Hydro One under a 20-year Ontario Power Authority feed-in-tariff contract.
In Dec 2014, Canadian Solar sold its 10-MW alternating current (AC) Liskeard 1 solar power facility to TransCanada Corporation (TRP) in a transaction valued at $52 million (C$60 million).
The growing awareness of the environmental benefits of alternative energy has substantially boosted solar demand in Canada. Last year, the total capacity of solar photovoltaic systems installed in Canada was 444 MW.
Solar demand is also rising on a global scale. Emerging nations like India and highly industrialized countries like Japan are taking initiatives to promote solar energy. Recently, the Modi government in India raised its solar investment target to $100 billion by 2022. This has increased the interest of the global solar players in the Indian market. Canadian Solar stands to gain immensely from the geographical proximity of China to India. The company after all has a growing presence, including manufacturing sites, in China .
Canadian Solar currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the same sector include Zacks Ranked #1 (Strong Buy) JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (JASO) and Zacks Ranked #2 (Buy) STR Holdings, Inc. (STRI).
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