Canadian Solar Raises JPY5.4 Billion with Inaugural Dual-Tenor Green Project Bond in Japan

GUELPH, Ontario, April 3, 2017

The Gunma Aramaki green project bond is the first of its kind with dual-tenor maturity of 1.5 years and 20.3 years, representing the initial and extended tenor respectively, within a single-tranche of bond. This innovative tenor mechanism provides Canadian Solar with options to maximize the value of its investment while preserving long-term financing support for its solar power project. The Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. ("JCR") has assigned the investment grade rating of "A" to the Gunma Aramaki project, which is in line with the highest rating in the Japan PV sector. Further, Japan Research Institution, Limited ("JRI") provided an independent certification for the designation as green bond in accordance with the Green Bond Principles 2016 published by the International Capital Market Association ("ICMA"). The asset-backed non-recourse bond has been issued at par and pays a fixed coupon of 1.2875% per annum during the initial tenor and, if extended at the option of Canadian Solar, 1.3588% per annum thereafter. Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd. acted as the bond arranger and Hitachi Capital Trust Corp. was appointed the trustee. 

The Gunma Aramaki Solar Power Plant is expected to reach commercial operations in December 2017. The electricity generated from this solar power plant will be purchased by the Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. ("TEPCO") under a 20-year feed-in-tariff contract at the rate of JPY36.00 (US$0.32) per kWh.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar Inc. commented, "We are very proud to announce the landmark issuance of a dual-tenor green project bond in Japan. We are encouraged by the institutional investors' response to our innovative bond offering. Investors recognize our strong track record of building high quality and bankable solar power projects. This successful offering paves the way forward for Canadian Solar to further issue green project bonds at low coupon rate in Japan."

About Canadian Solar
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 provider of solar energy solutions, Canadian Solar also has a geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale power projects in various stages of development. In the past 16 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 19 GW of premium quality modules to over 100 countries around the world. Furthermore, Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the solar industry, having been publicly listed on NASDAQ since 2006. For additional information about the company, follow Canadian Solar on LinkedIn or visit www.canadiansolar.com.

Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release regarding the Company's expected future shipment volumes, gross margins, business prospects and future results, 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 general business and economic conditions and the state of the solar industry; governmental support for the deployment of solar power; future available supplies of high-purity silicon; demand for end-use products by consumers and inventory levels of such products in the supply chain; changes in demand from significant customers; changes in demand from major markets such as Japan, the U.S., India and China; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in average selling prices; delays in new product introduction; delays in utility-scale project approval process; delays in utility-scale project construction; cancelation of utility-scale feed-in-tariff contracts in Japan; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features customers demand; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange rate fluctuations; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 20, 2016. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the 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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