Pensionskassernes Administration (PKA), a Danish pension services provider, has finalized a transaction to acquire stake in two solar plants, totaling 260MW, from Canadian Solar subsidiary, Recurrent Energy.
Image: Canadian Solar sells stake in two solar plants. Photo: Courtesy of Zbynek Burival/Unsplash
PKA will pay DKK2bn ($307m) to the subsidiary of Canadian Solar to acquire 49% passive equity stake in the solar projects, located in California.
PKA CEO Peter Damgaard Jensen said: “At PKA we are strongly committed to investing in a greener and more sustainable future while securing good returns for our members.
“Therefore, we are delighted to partner with Canadian Solar and Recurrent Energy and add yet another green energy investment to our portfolio. This is our first direct investment in solar energy, and it is an important addition to our investments in wind energy and biomass.
“By 2020 our ambition is to have 10% of our total investments allocated to climate related projects equivalent to 30 billion Danish kroner.”
The two solar projects, which were developed by Recurrent Energy, had reached commercial operation in 2016. The projects are supported by long-term power purchase agreements with Southern Power, a wholesale energy provider in the US and subsidiary of Southern Company.
Southern Power Renewable Partnerships owns the remaining 51% of the stake in the two solar projects.
Canadian Solar chairman and CEO Shawn Qu said: “As more pension funds find value in utility-scale solar, we are proud to partner with PKA to build upon its energy investments.
“The Recurrent Energy team continues to develop assets for world class investors that are focused on adding high quality assets to their portfolios. We will continue to partner with likeminded investors across our global pipeline of solar projects.”
Few days ago, Canadian Solar announced that it will join hands with Biosar Australia to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, for a 256MW Kiamal solar project in Australia for French independent power producer (IPP), Total Eren.
This project will be located in Northwest Victoria and has secured several PPAs with energy retailers including Flow Power and Alinta Energy and a 20-year PPA with Mars Australia.
The solar plant is scheduled to begin operations by the middle of next year and will include over 720,000 of Canadian Solar’s PV modules.