Canadian Solar Inc. announced the Oakey 2 Solar Farm in Queensland, Australia has reached financial close with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation for a facility commitment of approximately A$55 million (US$42.8 million). The project has a capacity of 70MWp and is part of the aggregate 117MWp solar portfolio sale to Foresight Solar Fund Limited.
Further, Canadian Solar has won the EPC contract to complete the construction of the Oakey 2 Solar Farm and another contract to provide O&M services for the initial two years after completion. The Oakey 2 Solar Farm will be powered by 205,860 Canadian Solar KuMax CS3U-340P solar panels and is expected to reach commercial operation in November 2018. Once operational, the project will generate approximately 138,800 MWh of clean solar power per year powering over 23,000 homes in Queensland.
"We are pleased to partner with FSFL and the CEFC on extending our integrated business across the solar value chain in Australia's clean energy sector," commented Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar. "With a pipeline exceeding 1,000MW of early to late-stage developments across four states (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia), we continue to commit to a sustainable clean energy future for Australia."