Canadian Solar (CSIQ) is announcing an important strategic alliance this morning with one of the largest utilities in China.  CSIQ and a subsidiary of state owned China Guodian (Guodian Power), one of the country’s 5 largest utilities, will design, invest, build, operate and maintain solar power plants around Gansu, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia to start and develop new markets in the future.  The first two projects will break ground in Ningxia with an initial phase of 10MW each and a target of 50MW or more over time.  The two companies will initially form a joint venture with Guodian holding the majority interest in the projects in which CSIQ will have first right to sell the solar modules needed. 

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar, commented: “We are proud to partner with Guodian Power Development and to reach a formal cooperation agreement with them in China. Our target is to become the leading supplier for Guodian Power Development’s anticipated 400 MW to 500 MW of PV projects in China and support its overseas expansions. Recent policies supporting the PV industry announced by Chinese Government have paved the way for us to grow in the Chinese PV market as we further diversify our revenue base. Canadian Solar’s anticipated ramp up in module production capacity of 820MW this quarter will prepare us for near term production growth. This broad partnership with Guodian Power Development underscores the success Canadian Solar has achieved worldwide and sets the stage for the next phase of our growth in China.”