Canadian Solar planning module capacity expansion to 3GW - SolarStar

PV energy provider (PVEP), Canadian Solar  is considering increasing production capacity to 3GW in 2014.

In SEC filings related to its latest stock offering to raise around US$200 million, the company noted that one of the key reasons for raising capital was for further expansion of manufacturing capacity to 3GW to meet growing demand.

Canadian Solar has become increasingly focused on the downstream PV power plant project development sector and currently said it had a ‘late-stage’ project pipeline of around 1.3GW with projects located in the US, Canada, Japan and China. The company also noted that it’s early to mid-stage’ project pipeline stood at 3.2GW.

Ontario plant capacity increased

The SEC filing also revealed that the company had increased module assembly capacity at its plant in Ontario, Canada from 330MW at the end of 2013 to 530MW of as of January 31, 2014.

Total nameplate capacity at module production plants in China and Canada currently stands at 2.6GW, up from 2.4GW in 2013.

Canadian Solar has typically used a flexible vertically integrated manufacturing model but has significantly smaller capacity in ingot/wafers (200MW) and solar cells (1,500MW) than module assembly (2.6GW).

The company has also announced preliminary fourth quarter financial results, highlighting that PV module  shipments would be in the range of 605MW to 620MW, compared to previous guidance of between 480MW to 500MW.

Shipments for the year were expected to be in the range of 1,878MW to 1,893MW, up from previously revised guidance of approximately 1,750MW to 1,770MW.

The company did not disclose in what specific area(s) it was considering to add capacity.