Recurrent Energy starts construction on Sunflower solar project in Mississippi

Recurrent Energy solar business

Canadian Solar subsidiary Recurrent Energy has started construction on the 100 MWac Sunflower Solar Project located in Sunflower County, Mississippi.

Recurrent Energy recently closed debt financing totaling over $146 million, inclusive of construction loan and letter of credit commitments, to support construction of the Sunflower solar project. The debt financing was provided by Norddeutsche Landesbank and Rabobank.

Sunflower is one of the first utility-scale solar projects to be constructed under a Build Transfer Agreement (BTA) in the United States.

Recurrent Energy signed a BTA with Entergy Mississippi in 2018 designating the regulated utility to own the Sunflower solar project when it reaches commercial operation in early 2022, The Canadian Solar subsidiary said.

The Sunflower solar project is expected to employ approximately 400 workers at peak construction, with 75 percent of those construction jobs expected to be filled by local skilled tradespeople from the area.

The Sunflower solar power project will create further economic benefits to the local community by providing local sales and property tax revenues to Sunflower County, as well as indirect benefits such as increased local spending on the service and construction industries.

The project will use Canadian Solar’s modules. The project will power more than 16,000 homes with low-cost, clean electricity, equivalent to displacing approximately 170,000 metric tons of CO2 per year or taking about 37,000 passenger vehicles off the road, Canadian Solar said.