Canadian Solar Inc. says its wholly-owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy LLC, a utility-scale solar+storage project developer, has closed $282 million of debt financing to construct its Maplewood and Maplewood 2 solar projects, located in Pecos County, Texas.
The financing was provided by a bank club led by Norddeutsche Landesbank which included Export Development Canada, Rabobank, National Bank of Canada and Bayerische Landesbank.
“We are pleased to partner with Nord/LB, EDC, Rabobank, NBC and Bayern/LB in this important financing,” says Dr. Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar.
“We are appreciative of these long-standing relationships with leading financial partners and value their continued support and trust as we execute on our growing pipeline in the U.S.,” he adds.
The Maplewood Solar Project has a capacity of 327 MW and will deliver clean energy to Anheuser-Busch under a power purchase agreement (PPA), contributing to the brewer’s 2025 sustainability goals for the U.S. which include a 100% renewable purchased electricity target and a 25% reduction of carbon dioxide emissions across its supply chain. The clean energy delivered by the Maplewood Solar Project is estimated to cover 50% of the electricity consumption of Anheuser-Busch’s U.S. operations.
The 40 MW Maplewood 2 Solar Project will deliver power to a Dallas-based oil and gas pipeline company, Energy Transfer Partners, under a 15-year PPA. This PPA marks Energy Transfer’s first-ever dedicated solar contract.
The projects will utilize Canadian Solar’s high-efficiency bifacial modules which, relative to traditional monofacial modules, produce electricity from both sides of the panel thereby increasing total energy generation and improving reliability during winter months.
According to a report by Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association, Texas has the 4th largest solar installed base in the U.S. with currently over 4,300 MW of solar and an additional 13,300 MW expected to be installed over the next five years.
Photo: Recurrent Energy’s landing page