Canadian Solar closes £35 million solar project financing with Investec

Canadian Solar has announced closure of a £35 million (US$53 million) project financing facility with Investec Bank for a 40.2 MW portfolio of four solar power plants in the UK.

Located at four different locations across England, the installations became operational in March 2015.

All four plants were built under the UK government's Renewables Obligation (RO) regime, the main support mechanism for renewable electricity projects in the UK. As a result, tradable Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) will be issued to the operators of the plants.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar, has commented:

"The UK market is an important component of our strategy to build and own solar power plants that we plan to drop into a YieldCo vehicle in the months ahead. Our goal is to continue investing in the UK and we look forward to continue working with Investec to support our growth."

Investec's Head of Power and Infrastructure Lending, Olivier Fricot, stated the following:

"Investec supported Canadian Solar in its first ROC based project financing. It further endorses the expertise of our team in the UK renewables sector. This transaction represents a significant deal with one of the leading global solar energy players, and we look forward to further developing this relationship in a number of geographies where our respective organizations operate."

Investec acted as sole mandated lead arranger on this transaction. They have a growing presence in the UK solar market, having funded in excess of 350 MWp to date.