GUELPH, Ontario, July 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar power companies, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Canadian Solar Solutions Inc., reached substantial completion on its 100 MW AC (133 MW DC) utility-scale Grand Renewable Solar Project ("GRS"). This project, located in the county of Haldimand, consists of approximately 445,000 CS6X MaxPower high-performance Ontario-made modules, and carries the proud distinction of being the largest operational solar farm in the nation. Canadian Solar provided Engineering, Procurement, and Construction ("EPC") services for the Project, which is jointly owned by Samsung Renewable Energy Inc., Connor, Clark & Lunn Infrastructure, and Six Nations of the Grand River.

The environmental and economic benefits from this solar farm are significant. Not only is GRS expected to produce approximately 170,000 MWh of electricity per year, the solar energy will power approximately 17,000 homes and displace approximately 162,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the 20-year period of the power purchase agreement with the IESO.  At the peak of construction, approximately 450 local jobs were created, averaging out to about 240 local construction jobs over the building period.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar, commented, "The completion of this utility-scale solar farm, the largest operational one in Canada, is a culmination of three years of strategic business planning, coordinated efforts, and tenacious work on the part of Canadian Solar.  We are extremely excited to see this project come to fruition, especially given the solar farm's substantial economic and environmental benefits for Canada."

About Canadian Solar Inc.

Founded in 2001 in Canada, Canadian Solar is one of the world's largest and foremost solar power companies. As a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules and a provider of solar energy solutions, Canadian Solar has a geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale power projects. In the past 14 years, Canadian Solar has successfully deployed over 10 GW of premium quality modules in over 70 countries around the world. Furthermore, Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the world, having been publically listed on NASDAQ since 2006. For additional information about the company, follow Canadian Solar on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or on the website.

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 the risks regarding general business and economic conditions and the state of the solar industry; governmental support for the deployment of solar power; future available supplies of solar grade silicon; demand for solar products by consumers and inventory levels of such products in the supply chain; changes in demand from significant customers; changes in demand in our project markets, including Canada, the U.S., Japan and China; changes in customer order patterns; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in average selling price; delays in new product introduction; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features customers demand; utility-scale project approval process delays; utility-scale project construction delays; utility-scale project cancelation due to failure to obtain all the necessary permits; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange rate fluctuations; trade protectionism in Europe, the U.S. and India; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 23, 2015. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in its 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.

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SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.