Canadian Solar wholly-owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, has completed the sale of the Slate project to Goldman Sachs Renewable Power (GSRP).

Revenue from the deal will be recognized in Q1 2021 and commercial sales are due at the end of 2021.

The Slate project is a 300 MW solar plus 140.25 MW/561 MWh storage project located in Kings County, California, and construction has begun. The majority-owned energy storage subsidiary of Canadian Solar, System Solutions and Energy Storage (SSES), will provide an optimized battery storage solution for the plant.

In addition, PNC Bank is offering a tax-equity contribution to the initiative, which shows its commitment not only to conduct its own activities in an environmentally friendly way, but also to help clients with creative funding solutions as a global shift to a low-carbon economy.

The project has signed PPAs with five separate off-takers, four of which are solar and energy storage, and one which is solar-only.

“The Slate project is Recurrent Energy’s largest solar-plus-storage project and represents continued investment in a community where we have done business for nearly a decade. Given the huge market opportunity presented by battery storage, both standalone as well as paired with solar, we have focused significant resources in developing our own technological, servicing and financing solutions over the past few years.

“We are now starting to see our efforts come to fruition and are solidly positioning Canadian Solar as a market leader in this space. This transaction demonstrates that our SSES team is now a top bankable battery storage solutions provider with deep technical know-how in solar and battery integration technology. Likewise, the Recurrent Energy team has done an excellent job in growing our storage pipeline in the U.S. which is currently over 4 GWh.

“Having recently transacted with Goldman Sachs Renewable Power on our first large-scale storage integration and long term service agreement for the neighboring Mustang project, after the project sale in 2019, we are pleased to partner again with GSRP on the Slate project, expected to be one of the largest integrated solar-plus-storage projects in the U.S.”

Dr. Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar.

“We are very excited to partner with Canadian Solar once again on a landmark project that will provide a significant new source of clean, renewable energy to California and a battery storage system that will help facilitate California’s transition to a carbon free power grid.”

Jon Yoder, head of the renewable power group of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

The Slate project would produce enough low-cost, renewable electricity to fuel approximately 126,000 homes in California. Approximately 962,000 Canadian Solar’s high-efficiency bifacial BiKu modules will be used by the power plant around approximately 2,400 acres in Kings County, California.

“We applaud our Slate customers for their commitment to use solar generation coupled with expanded storage capacity to enable a cleaner energy economy and brighter future in California. As solar-plus-storage installations in the US are expected to nearly triple in 2020 and more than double in 2021, we are pleased to continue to offer flexible and reliable clean energy and grid reliability solutions for our customers and the communities they serve.”

Dr. Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar.

The project is estimated to hire 405 employees at peak construction, with at least 50 percent of those construction jobs expected to be filled by local professional tradesmen from Kings County. In addition to the indirect economic advantages that surround the implementation of solar projects, such as increased retail investment in the utility and construction sectors, the Slate project would also have a major economic effect on the local economy by generating substantial tax collections for Kings County.

“This is a landmark solar-with-storage transaction and an exciting opportunity to support our respected clients Canadian Solar and Goldman Sachs Renewable Power. At PNC, we are proud to do our part to help successfully transition to a low-carbon economy by continuing to support our clients’ strategies for more sustainable operations and providing them with the sustainable financing programs they need.”

Michael Ziemke, managing director of Renewable Energy Finance Group for PNC Bank.