Early Warning System

Regions

Europe and Central Asia

Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.

Countries

Italy

Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.

Financial Institutions

European Investment Bank (EIB)

International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.

Project Status

Active

Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.

Bank Risk Rating

Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."

Voting Date

Oct 12, 2023

Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.

Borrower

CANADIAN SOLAR INC

A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.

Sectors

Energy

The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.

Investment Type(s)

Loan

The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.

Investment Amount (USD)

$ 52.68 million

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 50
Converted using 2023-10-12 exchange rate.

Loan Amount (USD)

$ 52.68 million

Project Cost (USD)

$ 367.71 million

Bank Documents

Environmental and Social Data Sheet

Other Related Projects

EIB-20190879 CA SUBORDINATED FINANCING COVID-19 PROGRAMME

Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EIB website

Updated in EWS Nov 10, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Dec 27, 2022

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Project Description

If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

As stated by the EIB, the framework loan will finance the construction and operation of a portfolio of photovoltaic projects in Italy, with an aggregate capacity of approximately 300-350 MWp. The projects are expected to start construction between 2023 and 2025.

The aim is to finance a NewCo, the holding company with an exclusivity right to acquire 100% of solar photovoltaic projects developed by Canadian Solar (CS).
The NewCo will build and operate a portfolio of projects in Italy, with an expected capacity of 1.3GW. The Promoter is a leading Solar PV module manufacturer, with experience in the
development, construction and operation of solar PV projects
Besides the EIB loan, the NewCo will be funded with equity provided by CS.

Early Warning System Project Analysis

For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

As stated by the EIB, the investments targeted by the operation are expected to have limited social and environmental impact, provided that all mitigation measures, assessed by the Bank at the project level as part of the allocation approval process, are implemented.

People Affected By This Project

People Affected By This Project refers to the communities of people likely to be affected positively or negatively by a project.

Investment Description

Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

European Investment Bank (EIB)

Private Actor Relationship

A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Private Actors Description

As stated on the company's website, Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ) was founded in 2001 and made its debut on the NASDAQ in 2006. Over the past two decades, Canadian Solar has become a global leader in solar energy and energy storage solutions. We have also ventured into the development of large-scale solar power plants and battery storage projects worldwide. As of the end of June, our presence spans across more than 30 countries, with a dedicated workforce exceeding 20,000 employees.

Private Actor 1	Private Actor 1 Role	Private Actor 1 Sector	Relation	Private Actor 2	Private Actor 2 Role	Private Actor 2 Sector
-	-	-	-	Canadian Solar Energy Hldg	Client	Energy

Contact Information

This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Promoter - Canadian Solar Inc.:

Website: https://www.csisolar.com/
Italian subsidiary - Canadian Solar Construction S.R.L.
Address: Via Mercato, 3 20121 Milan, Italy
Phone: +39 02 39190730

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.eib.org/en/infocentre/registers/request-form/request-form-default.htm

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EIB

The EIB Complaints Mechanism is designed to facilitate and handle complaints against the EIB by individuals, organizations or corporations affected by EIB activities. When exercising the right to lodge a complaint against the EIB, any member of the public has access to a two-tier procedure, one internal - the Complaints Mechanism Office - and one external - the European Ombudsman. A complaint can be lodged via a written communication addressed to the Secretary General of the EIB, via email to the dedicated email address: complaints@eib.org, by completing the online complaint form available at the following address: http://www.eib.org/complaints/form via fax or delivered directly to the EIB Complaints Mechanism Division, any EIB local representation office or any EIB staff. For further details, check: http://www.eib.org/attachments/strategies/complaints_mechanism_policy_en.pdf

When dissatisfied with a complaint to the EIB Complaints Mechanism, citizens can then turn towards the European Ombudsman. A memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the EIB and the European Ombudsman establishes that citizens (even outside of the EU if the Ombudsman finds their complaint justified) can turn towards the Ombudsman on issues related to 'maladministration' by the EIB. Note that before going to the Ombudsman, an attempt must be made to resolve the case by contacting the EIB. In addition, the complaint must be made within two years of the date when the facts on which your complaint is based became known to you. You can write to the Ombudsman in any of the languages of the European Union. Additional details, including filing requirements and complaint forms, are available at: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/atyourservice/interactiveguide.faces