KITCHENER, ON, April 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company" or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced that e-STORAGE, which is part of the Company's majority-owned subsidiary CSI Solar Co., Ltd. ("CSI Solar"), has signed a contract with Colbún, one of Chile's leading power generation companies, to supply a 228 MW/912 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) for the Diego de Almagro Sur project in Chile's Atacama Region.
The Diego de Almagro Sur BESS Project will utilize e-STORAGE's SolBank 3.0, a proprietary battery energy storage solution, featuring lithium-iron-phosphate battery technology, an active balancing battery management system, and an advanced liquid cooling system for superior performance and safety. e-STORAGE will also provide Colbún with a fully integrated solution that includes local project management, commissioning services, and long-term maintenance.
Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2025, generating up to 150 jobs at peak activity. The project is expected to reach commercial operation in December 2026. With enough capacity to cover the equivalent electricity consumption of 55,480 households, this storage system will be co-located with the 232 MW Diego de Almagro Sur Solar Park, which Colbún has been operating since 2022. The solar park currently includes an existing battery storage system with a capacity of 8 MW/32 MWh of storage.
Beyond providing energy shifting and capacity contribution, the Diego de Almagro Sur BESS Project will deliver advanced grid services—such as grid forming, black start, and inertia support—that are essential for integrating more renewables into Chile's national grid. By creating local jobs and leveraging local supply chains, the project is expected to generate a positive socio-economic impact in the Atacama Region. In addition, SolBank 3.0's high efficiency and safety profile help minimize environmental footprint, supporting Colbún's sustainability goals while ensuring long-term system performance.
José Ignacio Escobar, CEO of Colbún, commented, "This agreement with e-STORAGE positions us as one of the leading companies in Chile's energy storage market, ensuring a continuous and secure supply of renewable energy for our industrial clients. This project, together with the other battery systems we are developing in the north of the country, will complement the storage capacity we already have through our reservoirs in the south. It is aligned with our vision of driving a responsible energy transition, where renewable energy must be not only sustainable, but also secure, continuous, and competitive."
Colin Parkin, President of e-STORAGE, added, "We are proud to support Colbún's bold vision of advancing Chile's energy transition through large-scale storage. The Diego de Almagro Sur BESS Project represents a significant milestone for e-STORAGE's expansion in Latin America and reinforces our role as a key enabler of Chile's clean energy transformation. This project showcases the critical role of BESS in enabling greater grid reliability, optimizing renewable energy usage, and supporting industrial demand with a secure and continuous supply. With our SolBank 3.0 technology, we are not only delivering cutting-edge performance and safety, but also reinforcing our long-term commitment to Latin America's clean energy future."
About Canadian Solar Inc.
Canadian Solar is one of the world's largest solar technology and renewable energy companies. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Kitchener, Ontario, the Company is a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules; provider of solar energy and battery energy storage solutions; and developer, owner, and operator of utility-scale solar power and battery energy storage projects. Over the past 24 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered nearly 150 GW of premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers across the world. Through its subsidiary e-STORAGE, Canadian Solar has shipped over 10 GWh of battery energy storage solutions to global markets as of December 31, 2024, boasting a US$3.2 billion contracted backlog as of December 31, 2024. Since entering the project development business in 2010, Canadian Solar has developed, built, and connected approximately 11.5 GWp of solar power projects and 4.5 GWh of battery energy storage projects globally. Its geographically diversified project development pipeline includes 25 GWp of solar and 75 GWh of battery energy storage capacity in various stages of development. Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the solar and renewable energy industry, having been publicly listed on the NASDAQ since 2006. For additional information about the Company, follow Canadian Solar on LinkedIn or visit www.canadiansolar.com.
About e-STORAGE
e-STORAGE is a subsidiary of Canadian Solar and a leading company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and integrating battery energy storage systems for utility-scale applications. e-STORAGE offers proprietary battery energy storage solutions, comprehensive EPC services, and innovative solutions aimed at improving grid operations. Currently, e-STORAGE operates two fully automated, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities with an annual battery production capacity of 20 GWh. For more info, please refer to the Media&PR section of www.csestorage.com and follow our LinkedIn page.
About Colbún
Colbún S.A. is a company with 38 years of experience in power generation and commercialization. It serves a portfolio of over 350 industrial clients and companies, employs nearly 1,200 people, and has an installed capacity of more than 5,000 MW through 29 power plants in Chile and Peru. The company is driving an ambitious pipeline of solar, wind, and energy storage renewable projects to support its growth, along with initiatives in green hydrogen and water treatment. In addition, Colbún is a key player in the energy solutions market, offering solar plants for clients, energy management systems, and infrastructure for electromobility, among other services. Learn more about Colbún by visiting www.colbun.cl.
Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These statements are made under the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by such terms as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "estimates," the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include general business, regulatory and economic conditions and the state of the solar power and battery energy storage market and industry; geopolitical tensions and conflicts, including impasses, sanctions and export controls; volatility, uncertainty, delays and disruptions related to global pandemics; supply chain disruptions; governmental support for the deployment of solar power and battery energy storage; future available supplies of silicon, solar wafers and lithium cells; demand for end-use products by consumers and inventory levels of such products in the supply chain; changes in demand from significant customers; changes in demand from major markets such as China, the U.S., Europe, Brazil and Japan; changes in effective tax rates; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; changes in corporate responsibility, especially environmental, social and governance ("ESG") requirements; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in or failure to timely adjust average selling prices; delays in new product introduction; delays in utility-scale project approval process; delays in utility-scale project construction; delays in the completion of project sales; the pipeline of projects and timelines related to them; the ability of the parties to optimize value of that pipeline; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features that customers demand; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange and inflation rate fluctuations; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 26, 2024. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All information provided in this press release is as of today's date, unless otherwise stated, and Canadian Solar undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.
CANADIAN SOLAR INC. INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT Wina Huang Investor Relations Canadian Solar Inc. investor@canadiansolar.com
