Guelph, Ontario: Canadian Solar Inc. announced September 19 that it had been awarded a contract to supply 164 MW of photovoltaic modules to the 350 MWp Escatrón Solar power project owned by COBRA Group, a subsidiary of ACS Group in Spain.
ACS Group will serve as the EPC provider of the project that was awarded in the recent round of Spain's renewables auction in July 2018. Over 481,900 Canadian Solar's high-efficiency MaxPower modules (CS6U-P 345/350 W) will be installed. Module shipments will commence in September 2018 and the project is expected to reach commercial operation in 2019.
The Escatrón solar project is one of several large-scale solar projects awarded in Spain's renewable energy auction held in 2018. ACS Group had the largest share of the solar projects awarded with around 1.55 GWp of assigned capacity. The PV projects selected in the contest must start delivering power in 2019.
Canadian Solar also announced September 12 that it had been awarded a Victorian government support agreement for its greenfield 100MWac Carwarp Solar Project in Australia. This award guarantees revenue for 100% of the energy produced by the Carwarp Solar Farm for the term of the support agreement.
The project is located near Mildura, Victoria and will utilize Canadian Solar's high-efficiency bifacial modules with the latest single axis tracking technology. Canadian Solar claims a pioneering position in commercially deploying high efficiency poly PERC bifacial modules with front-side power output up to 365W, with a nominal bifacial rating of 400W. Canadian Solar's bifacial modules will generate extra power output of up to 30% depending on the GCR and light reflection and have a warranted life of 30 years.
Canadian Solar plans to commence construction of the project in Q1 2019 and achieve commercial operation in Q1 2020. The solar system will generate 267,000 MWh of electricity every year, equivalent to powering approximately 48,000 homes and reducing greenhouse emissions by 288,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gases.
Additionally, on August 29 the company announced having established a joint venture with ET Energy, a global clean energy developer and operator. Together they will provide Engineering, Procurement and Construction services for two solar power projects totaling 132 MWp in South Africa for BioTherm Energy, an independent African power producer.
The projects, Aggeneys (46 MWp) and Konkoonsies II (86 MWp), are located in northwest South Africa and cover an area of 387 hectares. They are Round IV projects of the country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).
The two solar power plants are expected to be grid-connected by the end of 2019 and early 2020, respectively. Over 400,000 of Canadian Solar's 1500V high voltage modules, CS6U-P, will be installed on single-axis solar tracking systems, with a total of 34 central inverters for the two solar projects. Construction of the projects is expected to start in September 2018.