GUELPH, Ontario, March 14, 2014 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Canadian Solar Inc. (the “Company”, or “Canadian Solar”) (CSIQ), one of the world’s largest solar power companies, today announced the opening of Canadian Solar Microgrid Testing Centre. The Centre will focus on micro-grid solution testing, and system solution design and smart grid assessment services.
The Canadian Solar Microgrid Testing Centre, partially funded by the Ontario Ministry of Energy, will be located in Guelph, Ontario. The Testing Centre has a team of highly qualified professionals, who will facilitate the development of both off-grid and grid-tied microgrid projects.
The Microgrid Testing Centre will work with its collaborators to provide shareable services for utilities, universities and colleges, communities, and companies that engage in the development of microgrid solutions.
“We thank the Ontario Ministry of Energy for sharing our vision and our effort in making Ontario the centre of renewable energy technology in North America. As of today, Canadian Solar has built up altogether approximately 500 MW of annual module capacity in Ontario, the largest module manufacturer in North America, creating over 700 direct jobs in less than four years. Meanwhile, we have created over thousands of indirect local jobs. The Canadian Solar Microgrid Testing Centre will serve as our newest addition to our Total Solutions strategy, and will help further strengthen our position in the emerging multi-billion dollar micro-grid and smart grid sector,” said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar.
“The investment in the Canadian Solar by the Smart Grid Fund project supports our vision for developing leading-edge smart-grid projects that help create Ontario jobs and make Ontario a North American leader in emerging energy technologies,” said Liz Sandals, Ontario Minster of Education and Member of the Provincial Parliament of Ontario representing Guelph.
“Building a smarter grid has long been a key part of our government’s plan to modernize our energy infrastructure and provide clean, reliable affordable power to consumers. Projects supported through the Ontario’s Smart Grid Fund support the vision that will bring to market the next generation of smart grid solutions,” said Bob Chiarelli, Ontario Minister of Energy.
The new microgrid solution will give Ontario a strong competitive advantage in that segment of the smart grid industry that focuses on testing, develop and integrating high penetration renewable energy solutions into existing microgrid off-grid infrastructure. First Nations, remote communities and mining projects in Northern Ontario will directly benefit from using the Testing Centre. In addition, the Testing Centre will serve an essential need in the smart microgrid application process, as Ontario Hydro requires all solutions to be lab tested before being testing in the field and then implemented into the microgrid.
About Canadian Solar
Founded in 2001 in Canada, Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) is one of the world’s largest and foremost solar power companies. As a leading vertically integrated provider of solar modules, specialized solar products and solar power plants with operations in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and Asia, Canadian Solar has delivered more than 6 GW of premium quality solar modules to customers in over 70 countries. Canadian Solar is committed to improve the environment and dedicated to provide advanced solar energy products, solutions and services to enable sustainable development around the world. For more information, please visit www.canadiansolar.com.
Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release, including but not limited to statements regarding the expected start of construction, date of completion milestone payment terms, period of service, power production and environmental impact 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 the risks regarding general business and economic conditions and the state of the solar industry; 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 in our project markets, including Canada and the Province of Ontario; changes in customer order patterns; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in average selling prices; delays in new product introduction; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features customers demand; utility-scale project approval process; delays in utility-scale project construction; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange rate fluctuations; litigation and other risks as described in the Company’s SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 26, 2013. 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. You 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.
Article source: http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/canadian-solar-announces-opening-microgrid-110000022.html
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