ReneSola (SOL) Divests 7MW Projects To Canada-Based Developer

ReneSola Ltd (NYSE:SOL) recently signed an agreement to divest one of its Canadian portfolios of solar projects to global developer, Grasshopper Energy. The portfolio, constituting 15 solar plants under development, comes with a combined capacity of 6.8 megawatts (MW).

The deal is in line with the company’s strategy to monetize solar assets across North America.

Solar Power Prospects in Canada

In line with other nations worldwide, the solar electricity sector is growing rapidly in Canada as well. Per a latest report by Canadian Solar Industries Association, in 2020, solar electricity will be a mainstream energy source and an integral part of Canada’s diversified electricity mix. Notably, by 2020, solar is estimated to produce approximately 1% of electricity generation in Canada, with almost 6,300 MW of installed capacity.

Such growing solar market opportunities in the nation attract solar power developers like ReneSola to build valuable projects like the aforementioned one and benefit from project monetization.

Global Boom: ReneSola & Others

Per a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), global electricity generation from solar energy is expected to increase to nearly 360 GW per year in 2050 from the current level of 109 GW.

We notice that to reap the benefits of this expanding global solar market, ReneSola and other solar players are making every possible effort, which is expected to boost their profit.

Evidently, during 2019, ReneSola connected about 60 MW of projects. Its total late-stage projects stand at 417 MW, as of Dec 31, 2019, down from 773 MW last year, reflecting completion of a handful of its projects that were in pipeline.

In 2019, JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS) reported record high solar module shipment of 14.3 GW. For 2020, it projects total solar module shipments of 18-20 GW, indicating an improvement of approximately 35%.

Given the growing demand for solar modules, First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) expects to increase its nameplate Series 6 manufacturing capacity to 6 GW by 2020 and 8 GW by year-end 2021.

Another solar player, SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) won awards worth more than $500 million in 2019 and acquired bookings worth 26 megawatts in the fourth quarter. Such contract wins are indicative of future revenue growth.

Price Performance

In a year's time, shares of ReneSola have plunged 35.1% against the industry’s 14.7% rise.

Zacks Rank

ReneSola currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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