The Chinese-Canadian company has secured the signature of Swiss energy business Axpo as offtaker for around 109GWh of solar electricity over a decade, with the clean power to be produced at Canadian Solar projects in Lazio and Sicily.
Canadian Solar claims to have become “the largest solar developer in Italy” after securing signatures to purchase most of the power to be generated at two projects it is developing in the country.
The Sino-Canadian solar manufacturer and project developer is working on a 51MWp solar field at Trapani, in western Sicily, and a 33MWp site at Viterbo, in central Lazio.
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With the developer yesterday stating construction will begin this year and both facilities will be operational in January 2024, the Italian unit of Swiss energy company Axpo has committed to pay an undisclosed price to buy 70% of the estimated 156GWh per year to be generated by the two sites.
Canadian Solar said the solar plants would produce enough clean energy to power 61,000 households. The ten-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed by Axpo commit it to buying around 109.2GWh per year.
Announcing the PPAs in a press release issued by Canadian Solar yesterday, chairman and CEO Shawn Qu said: “We are pleased to sign our second and third PPA with our partner Axpo Italia, becoming the largest solar developer in the country based on contracted volume. The growth of renewable energy in Italy is critical to achieving the country’s decarbonization and energy security objectives. We will continue to step up in our leadership role as we continue to grow our pipeline of clean energy projects in Europe.”
News of the energy deals emerged on the day the European Commission called for a massive acceleration of the EU’s renewables deployment plans, in order to reduce demand for Russian gas by two-thirds this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.