Growing Solar Glass Demand In North America

• CPS says it has secured off-take agreements for 62% of its planned output capacity
• Hanwha, Heliene and Meyer Burger will procure solar glass from CPS under long-term agreements, that include an option to raise the offtake to 72%
• CPS will now aim for 800 TPD capacity for the Selkirk plant instead of 550 TPD
• Moreover, it has also signed multiple MoUs that represent an additional 170% of planned output capacity

Canada headquartered solar glass supplier Canadian Premium Sand (CPS) is expanding its annual production capacity to 6 GW after signing off-take agreements with Hanwha Solutions Corporation, Heliene Inc and Meyer Burger Technology AG for a combined 62% of planned output.

These commercial agreements carry an average renewable contract term of over 4 years and include options to increase firm off-take volumes by an additional 15% of planned output to a combined 77%.

Notably, South Korea's Hanwha through Qcells plans to raise its vertically integrated PV capacity in North America to 8.4 GW, while Canada's Heliene is expanding its manufacturing capacity by 100% to 2 GW. Meyer Burger of Europe is setting up production base in the US with 2 GW capacity.

Citing this higher-than-expected demand, CPS and its EPC consortium have designed the proposed patterned solar glass manufacturing fab on site in Selkirk city to have 800 ton per day (TPD) capacity, up from 500 TPD it previously planned. It translates to supplying solar glass to around 6 GW/annum solar panel manufacturing capacity in North America, according to CPS.

Additionally, it claims to have signed multiple memorandums of understanding (MoU) representing 'an additional 170% of planned output capacity'.

The Selkirk fab will produce standard 3.2mm thick front-glass for the residential and commercial rooftop market, and 2.0mm thick glass for bifacial utility market, among other patterned solar glass range.

CPS expects the new fab to generate $300 million to $330 million annual revenues and between $170 million to $190 million annual EBITDA.

"With strong revenue visibility through binding commercial off-take agreements and a high degree of certainty with capital costs and operational performance through our EPC agreement we are confident in our ability to commercialize this high return Project, supporting the global energy transition," said CPS President and CEO Glenn Leroux.

CPS shares it has entered into a preliminary construction agreement with the EPC consortium incorporating a guaranteed maximum cost of $880 million, including silica sand operation.

The agreement comprises mechanisms to reduce the guaranteed maximum cost through various means which may include 30% refundable Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for clean manufacturing as announced by the federal government earlier this year (see Canada Comes Out With Its Own 'IRA').