Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On March 6, 2017, the China-Portuguese Cooperation and Development Fund provided USD $20 million in unsecured funding to Canadian Solar to support the development of eligible projects in Brazil, including the 191 MWp Pirapora I Project in the state of Minas Gerais. Once operational, the project will generate 391.3 GWh of clean electricity per year, enough to meet the annual energy needs of more than 200,000 Brazilian households and avoid 228,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. It was commissioned in November 2017. Canadian Solar acquired the Pirapora I solar farm from Solatio. The plant consists of five solar farms with an installed capacity of 30MW each and associated transmission system. It generates power using 600,000 CS6U-P modules. Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) provided a financing of R$529m ($142m) for Pirapora I in August 2017. Banco Itaú BBA, Banco Société Générale Brasil, and Banco ABC Brasil also provided construction financing for the project. Canadian Solar entered a joint venture with Flextronics Internacional Tecnologia (Flex) for developing the solar panels to be supplied for the Pirapora solar complex. Biosar Brasil-Energia Renovavel, a subsidiary of AKTOR, awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the Pirapora I solar complex. As of 2018, EDF and Canadian Solar have a 30% and 20% stake in Pirapora I, respectively, while Brazilian hydro and wind power operator, Omega Geração S.A. has a 50% stake.