Canadian Solar Begins Operations of 2 PV Plants in Japan

Canadian Solar Inc. CSIQ started commercial operation of two solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in Japan.

Details of the Announcement

Canadian Solar has brought the 10.2 megawatt peak (“MWp”) Aomori Solar Power Plant and the 2.5 MWp Saitama Minano Power Plant online.

The Aomori Solar plant is capable of generating around 11,695 megawatt-hour (“MWh”) of electricity annually, which will be purchased by Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. under a 20 year feed-in-tariff contract at the rate of 31 cents per kilowatt hour (“kWh”).

The Saitama Minano plant, on the other hand, is capable of generating nearly 2,978 MWh of electricity annually, which will be purchased by Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. under a 20 year feed-in-tariff contract at the rate of 27 cents per kWh.

Connecting these two solar plants to Japan’s grid will bring Canadian Solar’s total portfolio of operating plants in the country to 58.51 MWp.

Price Movement

Shares of Canadian Solar lost 33.6% in the last 12 months, which compares favorably with the Zacks categorized Solar industry’s decline of 44.7%. Canadian Solar provided a weaker guidance for 2016, wherein it lowered its revenue expectation to the band of $2.78−$2.94 billion from the previous estimate of $3.0−$3.2 billion. The company also lowered its total module shipment expectation to the range of 5.073–5.173 gigawatts (“GW”) from the previous guidance of 5.4–5.5 GW.

Solar Industry Outlook

Throughout 2016, the solar industry has grappled with challenges like declining solar panel prices, weaker power plant contracting activity and increasing regulatory stringency. The industry-wide downturn was owing to a looming supply glut of solar panels. As solar players continued to step up production in an effort to seize a higher market share, panel supply outweighed demand significantly.

Strong project build-up in the U.S. in anticipation of the Dec 2016 expiration of the solar investment tax credit (which was eventually extended) also played a major role in curbing activity in this space as developers now have more time to build their projects.

This had a material impact on solar companies such as First Solar, Inc. FSLR, Azure Power Global Limited AZRE and Enphase Energy, Inc. ENPH.

Further, the unexpected victory of Donald Trump in the Presidential election does not bode well for the renewable energy space. The President-elect has not only vowed to revive the coal industry but has even called climate change a “Chinese Hoax”.

Zacks Rank

Canadian Solar currently has a Zacks Rank #3(Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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First Solar Inc. (FSLR): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Enphase Energy Inc. (ENPH): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Azure Power Global Ltd. (AZRE): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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