Recurrent Energy Amps Up Battery Storage Activity Executing on 2.3 GWh of Storage Projects

Rhea-AI Summary

Recurrent Energy, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar (CSIQ), is expanding its energy storage projects in the U.S. with multiple Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) slated for construction in 2021 and 2022. The Crimson BESS project has secured a long-term contract with Southern California Edison for 200 MW / 800 MWh. Additional projects include energy storage retrofits at Tranquillity and Garland solar sites. With a robust pipeline of 11 GWh across the U.S. and 2.3 GWh in late-stage development, Recurrent Energy aims to enhance grid reliability and support California's carbon reduction goals.

Positive

• Crimson BESS project receives long-term contract for 200 MW / 800 MWh from Southern California Edison.
• Pipeline includes 11 GWh of battery storage projects, with 2.3 GWh in late-stage development.
• Projects will create over 400 local construction jobs and enhance grid reliability.

Negative

• None.

GUELPH, ON, June 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Recurrent Energy, LLC ("Recurrent Energy"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc. ("Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced it has expanded its energy storage footprint in the United States with several leading Battery Energy Storage Systems ("BESS") contracted to be built in 2021 and 2022. These projects span retrofits as-a-service, solar plus storage PPAs, and stand-alone storage tolling agreements.

California's rapidly evolving energy landscape and aggressive carbon reduction goals are increasing the need for energy storage technologies. Southern California Edison ("SCE") awarded Recurrent Energy a long-term contract beginning in the summer of 2022 for the 200 MW / 800 MWh Crimson BESS project, representing one of the largest stand-alone storage contracts in the U.S. The California Public Utility Commission recently voted to approve the Crimson project's contract with SCE and the United States Interior Department recently announced that the Bureau of Land Management has given final approval to site the Crimson project on public lands in the California desert, in Riverside County.

Furthermore, Recurrent Energy has partnered with Southern Power and AIP Management ("AIP") to provide development services to add 72 MW / 288 MWh of energy storage to the 200 MWac Tranquillity solar project located in Fresno County, California, and 88 MW / 352 MWh of energy storage to the 200 MWac Garland solar project located in Kern County, California. The Tranquillity and Garland solar PV projects were originally developed and constructed by Recurrent Energy in 2016 and are currently owned by Southern Power and AIP. BESS retrofits on both projects are currently under construction.

Recurrent Energy is also in the process of constructing the Slate project (300 MWac solar plus 140.25 MW / 561 MWh storage) and the 75 MW / 300 MWh BESS retrofit to the 100 MWac Mustang solar project. Slate and Mustang are both located in Kings County, California and are owned by Goldman Sachs Renewable Power LLC.

The above referenced energy storage projects will deliver significant benefits to California. In addition to supporting a total of more than 400 local construction jobs, the projects will enhance California's grid reliability by providing critically needed resource adequacy capacity, with the ability to send energy to the grid during heatwaves and other peak demand events. The California Energy Commission has noted in the past that natural gas-fired peaking plants are used in the state when peak demand for electricity is too high to be met by other resources. By storing renewable generation when production exceeds demand, energy storage can be used in place of natural gas peaking plants during the highest electricity demand hours.

With a pipeline of around 11 GWh of battery storage projects across the United States, of which 2.3 GWh are in late-stage development, Recurrent Energy has been actively developing both PV solar plus energy storage and standalone storage projects since 2014. Recurrent Energy boasts a dedicated energy storage team with extensive design, energy marketing and optimization experience. Over the past years, it has solidified its market leadership position by developing innovative solar-plus-storage and storage-only projects and offtake agreements in numerous markets throughout the United States.

In collaboration with Recurrent Energy's project development team, Canadian Solar's majority-owned CSI Solar subsidiary delivers competitive, highly bankable and fully-integrated battery storage solutions to support the recent acceleration in demand. Canadian Solar's global project development business, or Global Energy Group, continues to expand and focus on energy storage, with a combined total pipeline of more than 5,328 MW / 16,875 MWh.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar said, "Solar is expected to have another record-breaking year in the U.S., with 23.8 GWdc in new capacity expected to come online in 2021, along with nearly 12 GWh of battery storage, more than doubling existing capacity. We applaud our customers for their commitment to use cost-effective lithium-ion storage capacity with minimal carbon footprint to enable a cleaner energy economy and brighter future. We are pleased to continue to offer flexible and reliable clean energy solutions for our customers and the communities we serve across the United States."

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 55 GW of premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers in over 150 countries. Likewise, since entering the solar project development business in 2010, Canadian Solar has developed, built and connected over 5.7 GWp in over 20 countries across the world. Currently, the Company has around 500 MWp of projects in operation, nearly 6 GWp of projects under construction or in backlog (late-stage), and an additional 15 GWp of projects in pipeline (mid- to early- stage). Additionally, Canadian Solar has 1.2 GWh of battery storage projects under construction, and nearly 17 GWh of battery storage projects in backlog or pipeline. 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 Recurrent Energy (Canadian Solar Subsidiary)  

Recurrent Energy is a leading utility-scale solar and storage project developer, delivering competitive, clean electricity to large energy buyers. Based in the U.S., Recurrent Energy is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc. and functions as Canadian Solar's U.S. project development arm. Recurrent Energy has approximately 5 GW of solar and storage projects in development in the U.S. Additional details are available at www.recurrentenergy.com.   

About Southern Power

Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, is a leading U.S. wholesale energy provider meeting the electricity needs of municipalities, electric cooperatives, investor-owned utilities and other energy customers. Southern Power and its subsidiaries, some of which are owned in part with various partners, own or operate 54 facilities operating or under development in 14 states with more than 12,498 MW of generating capacity in Alabama, California, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and West Virginia. 

About Goldman Sachs Renewable Power LLC
Goldman Sachs Renewable Power LLC is a privately held company managed by the Renewable Power Group of Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). GSRP is the sponsor of 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. GSAM's Renewable Power Group is comprised of investment professionals with leading industry expertise across transaction sourcing, financial analysis, power markets and physical asset analysis and operations. The team takes a long-term ownership approach to the operations and management of renewable assets and benefits from Goldman Sachs' extensive network of relationships, leading institutional infrastructure and in-house industry knowledge and experience. The Renewable Power Group is part of GSAM, one of the world's leading asset managers with approximately $2.0 trillion in assets under supervision globally as of December 31, 2020.

About AIP Management
AIP Management is a Danish investment company dedicated to investing into energy and infrastructure assets in Europe and the US. To date, AIP has invested more than EUR 4 billion, primarily in assets that contribute to the green transition, including in six European offshore wind farms, three onshore wind farms in Sweden and the US, as well as in four large solar power plants in California and Texas. The existing investments deliver sustainable energy to cover the equivalent of 2.2 million households' consumption and they save more than 3 million tonnes of CO2 on a yearly basis.

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.

FAQ

What is the Crimson BESS project announced by Canadian Solar (CSIQ)?

The Crimson BESS project is a 200 MW / 800 MWh energy storage project contracted by Southern California Edison, set to begin in summer 2022.

How many jobs will the energy storage projects create in California?

The energy storage projects, including the Crimson project, are expected to create over 400 local construction jobs.

What is Canadian Solar's strategy regarding energy storage?

Canadian Solar, through Recurrent Energy, is increasing its energy storage footprint with a pipeline of 11 GWh of storage projects across the U.S.

When is the completion date for the energy storage projects by Recurrent Energy?

The energy storage projects are contracted for construction in 2021 and 2022.

What impact do the energy storage projects have on California's electricity grid?

The projects will improve grid reliability by providing resource adequacy capacity during peak demand, helping to reduce reliance on natural gas peaking plants.