The Canadian firm will work with Brazil-based Solatio to develop, construct and own the solar power plants in the state of Minas Gerais.
Brazilian government entity, Agencia Nacional de Energia Eletrica, will buy the electricity generated from the projects under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
Canadian Solar chairman and chief executive officer Shawn Qu said: "We entered the utility scale project development business to differentiate our business model, expand and stabilize our profit margins over the business cycle. We have since successfully leveraged our experience in Canada to expand our project business in key geographies.
"This win in Brazil is a testament to the strength of our project development capabilities, and positions us well to participate in the growth in demand for solar energy across the globe."
Solatio won 270MW of solar projects in Brazil’s recent Leilão de Reserva public tender, totaling 890MW.
Brazil intends to generate 3.5GW of solar power by 2023, increasing its entire share to 1.8% from less than 1% now.
Bloomberg reported that developers were awarded contracts to sell 1,048MW of capacity from solar power at the auction, which may drive about $1bn in investment.
Image: Canadian Solar will develop three solar PV projects, totaling 114MW, in Brazil. Photo: Courtesy of Pixomar/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
