Canadian Solar has secured a €55 million ($61 million) in construction financing to fund the construction of a 151-megawatt portfolio of solar photovoltaic projects in Italy.
The financing was structured as a bilateral revolving credit facility and was supplied by Intesa Sanpaolo, an Italian banking group.
According to Canadian Solar, the portfolio consists of 12 projects, the first of which are expected to break ground in third quarter 2020. Once operational, these projects are expected to generate approximately 287 gigawatt hours of solar power per year, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 57,331 people. They are expected to displace 73,384 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
“Italy is an important energy market where subsidy-free solar energy is already competitive with conventional sources,” said Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar. “Meanwhile, Italy is expected to be one of the fastest-growing solar energy markets in Europe, gi
