GUELPH, ON, March 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company" or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced that six of its photovoltaic solar projects totaling 685 MW located in the Andalucía and Castilla y León regions of Spain received favorable Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) from the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge and the Environmental Agency of Castilla y León.

The EIA assesses the direct and indirect impacts of a power project based on a range of environmental factors, including the impacts on the local community, biodiversity, land, soil, water, air, climate, landscape, and cultural heritage. The EIA procedure ensures that environmental protection and considerations are taken into account from the very beginning of project development activities. The process also fosters public engagement and provides transparency in the decision-making process.

The autonomous regions of Andalucía and Castilla y León are two of the most promising and fast-growing regions in Spain for solar energy, boasting with some of the best solar irradiation in the world.

All projects are expected to start construction in 2023 and will be fully operational by 2025. The Company's total portfolio of solar photovoltaic parks under development in Spain amounts to more than 2 GW located across six autonomous communities.

The environmental authorization for these 685 MW is another milestone for Canadian Solar in the Spanish market, where it has been present since 2006. These projects are expected to create nearly 1,700 local jobs and will generate enough clean energy to supply approximately 365,000 homes, equivalent to reducing approximately 350,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar, commented "As a responsible renewable energy provider, we integrate ESG not only into our manufacturing business but also our project development business. We evaluate environmental and ecological impacts of every project we develop globally. We are very pleased to have recently obtained the Environmental Impact Assessment for our six projects in Spain. They will contribute to lowering electricity prices for end consumers, decarbonizing Spain's energy mix and promoting the energy transition towards a cleaner and more sustainable future."

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 21 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered around 82 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 7 GWp in over 20 countries across the world. Currently, the Company has approximately 500 MWp of projects in operation, 6 GWp of projects under construction or in backlog (late-stage), and an additional 19 GWp of projects in advanced and early-stage 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.

Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release 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, regulatory and economic conditions and the state of the solar and battery storage market and industry; geopolitical tensions and conflicts, including impasses, sanctions and export controls; volatility, uncertainty, delays and disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic; supply chain disruptions; 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., China, Brazil and Europe; changes in effective tax rates; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; changes in corporate responsibility, especially environmental, social and governance ("ESG") requirements; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in or failure to timely adjust 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; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features that customers demand; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange and inflation rate fluctuations; uncertainties related to the CSI Solar carve-out listing; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 28, 2022, as amended on October 18, 2022. 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.

Canadian Solar Inc. Contacts