Canada based global solar PV manufacturer Canadian Solar is expanding its Spanish portfolio with 6 of its projects here representing 685 MW capacity having secured environmental clearance, while in Japan its operational portfolio has grown by 42 MW that came online recently.

Spain’s Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) and the Environmental Agency of Castilla y León have accorded favorable Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to Canadian Solar’s 6 Spanish projects that are located in Andalucia and Castilla y Leon regions.

Canadian Solar plans to start construction on all these projects within 2023 and bring them online by 2025. Altogether, its total portfolio of under development projects in Spain now tops 2 GW in 6 autonomous communities.

In another part of the world, Japan, Canadian Solar achieved commercial operation of 3 projects with 42 MW combined capacity in Q1/2023. Oita Kitsuki, Gunma Takasaki and Yamaguchi Hofu projects are all equipped with the company’s own bifacial BiHiKu modules.

It had secured Gunma Takasaki and Yamaguchi Hofu projects in Japan’s 2018 solar auction.

“The Oita Kitsuki project was our first project where we installed a Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM), a more challenging power quality requirement that will meaningfully help improve the grid’s reliability given the growing number of interconnected solar farms,” shared Chairman and CEO Dr Shawn Qu.

Together these are expected to generate 53,000 MWh annually, all of which will be procured by grid operators for 19 years under the country’s feed-in-tariff (FIT) program for JPY 32.0 ($0.24)/kWh, JPY 14.49 ($0.11)/kWh and JPY 14.25($0.10)/kWh.

In Japan, Canadian Solar now has more than 518 MW utility scale projects in operation or under construction. It also has 2 partnership platforms called Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund and Japan Green Infrastructure Fund.