The Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA) has awarded the First Light solar energy park as the “Solar PV (photovoltaic) Project of the Year” during its annual Solar Conference in Toronto on Tuesday. First Light – a joint venture of SkyPower, Canada’s leading solar energy developer, and SunEdison – delivers more than 11 million kilowatts of power annually.
Kerry Adler, President and Chief Executive Officer of SkyPower Limited said, “On behalf of all of us at SkyPower and our shareholder the CIM Group, we are privileged to receive this award from CanSIA. This is truly a validation of our commitment to building utility-scale solar projects across North America, and the project would not have happened without the leadership and backing of some of Canada’s most forwarding-thinking governmental leaders.”
While presenting the Solar PV Project of the Year award, George Smitherman, MPP for Toronto-Centre, Ontario’s former Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy, commented: “The First Light solar energy park’s grand opening made solar dreams for a lot of people in the industry – not just in Ontario – but across the country.”
Though the project has only been on-line for approximately seven weeks, the award signifies its importance both as a source of clean energy as well as what can be accomplished when the public and private sector work together.
The Hon. Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario, commenting at the grand opening of First Light: “Our government is proud that, by working with industry leaders like SkyPower and SunEdison Canada, we are succeeding in building a green-energy future that will provide a reliable and clean supply of electricity to the citizens of this Province. As Canada’s first and largest operational solar farm, this project is a tremendous – and inspiring – accomplishment.”
First Light will generate enough electricity to power approximately 1000 homes during its first year of commercial operation – the equivalent of removing almost 1800 cars from Ontario’s roads or planting more than seven million trees in Ontario’s forests.
SkyPower has an impressive roster of projects in development, including a pipeline of 50 projects representing the potential for more than 500 megawatts of solar power generation nameplate capacity.
Mr. Adler commenting on the need for new and clean sources of power, “Our continued focus is to develop more projects like this to commercialize operations in order to help jurisdictions meet their increasing demand for solar energy solutions. Our goal is to expand our expertise across a broader geographic area while continuing to improve the efficiencies of our operations.”
About SkyPower Limited
SkyPower Limited is Canada’s leading developer of solar energy projects with an extensive pipeline of 50 projects at various stages of development representing hundreds of MW of potential nameplate capacity. SkyPower Limited prospects, develops, manages, finances, owns and builds solar energy projects from initial stages through to commercial operation.
About CIM Group
CIM Group is a leading investment firm that since 1994 has systemically and successfully invested in dynamic, transitional, and densely populated communities throughout North America. CIM Group draws on its experienced team of real estate, investment and finance professionals to identify and pursue investment opportunities in three primary strategic categories: repositioning and development projects in established and emerging urban areas; well-positioned operating properties in transitional districts; and infrastructure. Headquartered in Los Angeles, CIM Group maintains regional offices in the Bay Area and Bethesda, Maryland. For more information please visit, www.cimgroup.com
About SunEdison
SunEdison is North America’s largest solar energy services provider. The company finances, installs and operates distributed power plants using proven photovoltaic technologies, delivering fully managed, predictably priced solar energy services for its commercial, government and utility customers. In 2008, SunEdison delivered more kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy than any other solar services provider in North America. For more information about SunEdison, please visit www.sunedison.com. SunEdison is a subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Materials.