Samsung and Canadian Solar open solar manufacturing facility in London, creating 200 jobs

The London community celebrated the start of more than 200 local renewable energy jobs at the grand opening of the Canadian Solar Inc. manufacturing facility on Thursday.

The Canadian Solar plant, located at 1400 Global Drive in London, began operations in November, 2013. The plant produces solar PV modules and medium voltage power stations to supply Samsung’s Ontario solar projects, including the 100-megawatt (MW) Grand Renewable Energy Park in Haldimand County, the 100-MW Sol-Luce Kingston Solar PV project in Kingston and Loyalist Township, and future solar projects within the Green Energy Investment Agreement (GEIA) with the Ontario government. The new facility is also a hub for solar energy research and product development.

Samsung and its partners are investing $5 billion in Ontario to create the largest cluster of solar and wind power in the world. Under the GEIA, Samsung will develop 300 MW of solar power in Ontario, part of a total of 1,369 MW of clean, renewable energy that will contribute to Ontario’s initiative to phase-out coal-fired generation by the end of 2014.

This is the fourth manufacturing facility to be created by Samsung Renewable Energy Inc. under the GEIA. The Canadian Solar plant joins Samsung’s Ontario manufacturing partners Siemens in Tillsonburg, CS Wind in Windsor, and SMA in Toronto. Together, the four manufacturing facilities now employ more than 1,000 workers in the Ontario manufacturing industry.

“On behalf of my colleagues in the federal government, I congratulate Canadian Solar and Samsung on the opening of this facility today,” said Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Federal Economic Development Agency for southern Ontario). “Our government knows that we must continue to work hard to make southern Ontario a great place to invest and do business. The benefits of this are clear: jobs for our people, growth for our businesses and success for our region as well as Canada as a whole.”

SOURCE: Canadian Solar Inc.