Canadian Solar Breaks Ground on 300 MW Solar Plus 561 MWh Storage Project in California

Canadian Solar has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, completed the sale of the Slate project to Goldman Sachs Renewable Power (GSRP). The project is a 300 MWac solar plus 140.25 MW / 561 MWh storage project located in Kings County, California, and has commenced construction.

Canadian Solar’s majority-owned energy storage subsidiary, System Solutions and Energy Storage (SSES), will provide the battery storage integration solution for the project. Additionally, PNC Bank is providing a tax equity commitment to the project, which demonstrates its pledge to not only manage its own operations in an environmentally sustainable manner but also to support clients with innovative financing options as the world transitions to a low-carbon economy.

The project has signed PPAs with five different off-takers, four of which are solar and energy storage, and one that is solar-only.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar said “the Slate project is Recurrent Energy’s largest solar-plus-storage project and represents continued investment in a community where we have done business for nearly a decade. Given the huge market opportunity presented by battery storage, both standalone as well as paired with solar, we have focused significant resources in developing our own technological, servicing and financing solutions over the past few years. We are now starting to see our efforts come to fruition and are solidly positioning Canadian Solar as a market leader in this space. 

“This transaction demonstrates that our SSES team is now a top bankable battery storage solutions provider with deep technical know-how in solar and battery integration technology. Likewise, the Recurrent Energy team has done an excellent job in growing our storage pipeline in the U.S. which is currently over 4 GWh.”

The project will generate enough low-cost, clean energy to power approximately 126,000 California homes. The power plant will utilize approximately 962,000 of Canadian Solar’s high-efficiency bifacial BiKu modules across approximately 2,400 acres in Kings County, California.

Jon Yoder, Head of the Renewable Power Group of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said “we are very excited to partner with Canadian Solar once again on a landmark project that will provide a significant new source of clean, renewable energy to California and a battery storage system that will help facilitate California‘s transition to a carbon-free power grid.”

PC: Bosch