Canadian Solar said it plans to expand production capacity with a 300MW annual capacity module factory in Brazil and a 400MW cell and module plant in Southeast Asia.
The move into Brazil will put the PV group among a pioneering group of manufacturers to base production in a market that is tipped for big growth over the next five years, and where Canadian Solar won contracts to develop 185MW of capacity earlier this year,
The company said the extra plants will help expand its wafer, cell and module capacities to 1GW, 3.4GW and 5.63GW respectively by the end of 2016.
Canadian Solar expects the expansion programme to cost it $104m in the second half of this year and $297m in 2016.
CEO Shawn Qu said: "We have held the view all year that demand for our solar products would remain strong, with supply constraints likely. As we look to the future, we continue to see strong global demand for modules and tight Tier 1 capacity availability.
“As a result, we have made the strategic decision to expand our wafer, cell and module manufacturing capacities.”
Finance chief Michael Potter indicated the company is still not fully committed to a yieldco for its generating assets despite submitting draft papers for one with US regulators earlier this month.
“We continue to work hard on a potential yieldco, while keeping all options open given recent market volatility," Potter said.
The announcements came as Canadian Solar posted third quarter net profits of $30.4m, down from a year-earlier $104m in the equivalent quarter of 2014. Revenue was 7.1% lower at $849.8m.
