Canadian Solar Wins Green Project Bond of the Year Award by Environmental Finance

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Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) won Environmental Finance's Green Project Bond of the Year award for its JPY 18.5 billion green samurai private placement. The innovative bond enhances liquidity and flexibility, empowering Canadian Solar's global development business, Recurrent Energy. Japan Credit Rating Agency, (JCR) assigned the bond an investment grade rating of 'A-' and the highest Green 1 rating under Japanese Green Bond guidelines. Canadian Solar previously won this award in 2018. Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar, expressed gratitude for the recognition, highlighting the company's innovative financing strategies and global expansion in renewable energy.

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• Canadian Solar wins Environmental Finance's Green Project Bond of the Year award for JPY 18.5 billion green samurai private placement. The innovative bond enhances liquidity and flexibility for Recurrent Energy. Dr. Shawn Qu expressed gratitude for the recognition, highlighting the company's global expansion in renewable energy.

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GUELPH, ON, April 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced that it has won Environmental Finance's Green Project Bond of the Year award for its JPY 18.5 billion green samurai private placement.

Canadian Solar completed its three-year, JPY 18.5 billion ($120 million) private placement in 2023. The innovative bond enhances liquidity and flexibility, empowering Canadian Solar's global development business, Recurrent Energy, to grow its solar and battery energy storage projects under development and asset management business.

Environmental Finance is an industry-leading global publication established in 1999. Its annual Sustainable Debt Awards celebrate leading green, social, sustainable and sustainability-linked bond and loan deals and recognize market innovations.

A Sustainable Debt Awards judge commended Canadian Solar's transaction, noting that while "securitizations of solar assets are common in the market", the deal was additive because it enabled the issuer to tap into a wider pool of investors than it previously had done. Environmental Finance also praised the deal for enabling Canadian Solar to "plug into the ultra-low interest rate environment in Japan, where long-term, fixed-rate products are scarce."

The Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. ("JCR") not only assigned this structured bond an investment grade rating of "A-," but also certified the issuer with the highest Green 1 rating under the Japanese Green Bond guidelines. Orix Bank Corporation was designated as the trustee of the bond, and Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd. ("GS") served as the lead arranger and sole book runner with domestic bond investors.

This is the second green project bond of the year award Canadian Solar has received from Environmental Finance, following the one awarded in 2018 for Canadian Solar's JPY5.4 billion ($47 million) Gunma Aramaki project bond placement with Goldman Sachs Japan.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar, commented, "We are honored to again receive the Green Project Bond of the Year, acknowledging our innovative financing strategies for our global development business. Recurrent Energy continues to expand in response to growing global demand in renewable energy, supported by its proven track record in solar and battery energy storage development and robust financing capabilities."

Makoto Ito, head of the Financing Group at Goldman Sachs in Japan, said: "Goldman Sachs is proud to be at the forefront of capital markets activity and innovation, both globally and in Japan. We are honored to continue the longstanding partnership with Canadian Solar to help them achieve their most important strategic and financing objectives."

Full results of the Environmental Finance's Sustainable Debt Awards 2024 can be found at https://www.environmental-finance.com/content/awards/environmental-finances-sustainable-debt-awards-2024/

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 energy storage solutions, and developer of utility-scale solar power and battery energy storage projects with a geographically diversified pipeline in various stages of development. Over the past 22 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 118 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 around 10 GWp of solar power projects and 3.3 GWh of battery energy storage projects across the world. Currently, the Company has approximately 1 GWp of solar power projects in operation, 7.4 GWp of projects under construction or in backlog (late-stage), and an additional 19.9 GWp of projects in advanced and early-stage pipeline. In addition, the Company has 600 MWh of battery energy storage projects in operation and a total battery energy storage project development pipeline of approximately 55 GWh, including approximately 3.5 GWh under construction or in backlog, and an additional 51 GWh at advanced and early-stage development. 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; 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 26, 2024. 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. Investor Relations Contact

Wina Huang
Investor Relations
Canadian Solar Inc.
investor@canadiansolar.com

 

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SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.

FAQ

What award did Canadian Solar win?

Canadian Solar won Environmental Finance's Green Project Bond of the Year award.

What was the amount of the green samurai private placement?

The green samurai private placement was for JPY 18.5 billion ($120 million).

Who assigned an investment grade rating to the structured bond?

The Japan Credit Rating Agency, (JCR) assigned an investment grade rating of 'A-' to the structured bond.

Who was designated as the trustee of the bond?

Orix Bank was designated as the trustee of the bond.

Who served as the lead arranger and sole book runner for the bond?

Goldman Sachs Japan Co., (GS) served as the lead arranger and sole book runner for the bond.