Solar manufacturing major Canadian Solar is looking to raise US$200 million in convertible senior note sales to support its US manufacturing operations and its solar PV and battery energy storage system (BESS) value chain.
The company offered US$200 million in senior note sales yesterday, with the option for buyers to purchase an additional US$30 million within 13 days.
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Senior notes are a form of debt investment that takes precedence over other debts in the event that the company in question goes bankrupt; they are a secure and low-risk bond.
Canadian Solar will use the proceeds raised for “investments in US manufacturing capacity,” it said, as well as “the value chain supporting battery energy storage and solar power solutions”.
This funding round follows the company’s decision in December to transfer control of its US manufacturing facilities and “certain overseas facilities that support US operations” to a new North American entity, in which the parent company holds a majority stake alongside its dedicated solar manufacturing subsidiary, CSI Solar.
The move shifts focus towards Canadian Solar’s Ontario headquarters and listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange and away from its significant manufacturing operations in China and Southeast Asia, at a time when legislative and customs scrutiny on US solar and energy storage supply chains is heightening.
The company operates a 5GW tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) module production facility in Mesquite, Texas, and is planning to produce solar cells and lithium batteries in the US by the end of this year. Its global capacity exceeds 51GW of PV modules and 30GW of solar cells, silicon wafers and ingot production capacity.
New Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) restrictions on US solar and energy storage projects put tight restrictions on products or supply chains based in, funded by or influenced by Chinese entities. Alongside an increase in US tariffs and the ongoing Section 232 investigation into imports of polysilicon and its “derivatives”, the new landscape has pushed a number of major solar manufacturers to either exit the US or restructure their operations.
Leading Chinese solar manufacturers Trina Solar and JA Solar have both sold US module production facilities to T1 Energy (formerly Freyr Battery) and Corning, respectively.
Last week, the company announced that Shawn Qu, Canadian Solar’s founder and longtime president, would be replaced by Colin Parkin, former head of the company’s eStorage arm. Parkin also succeeds Yan Zhuang on the company’s board.
