Canadian Premium Sand Inc. (“CPS” or the “Company”) (TSXV: CPS) is pleased to provide an operational update for its pattern solar glass manufacturing facility in Selkirk, Manitoba (the “Selkirk Project”) and announces plans for a pattern solar glass manufacturing facility in the United States.
Operational Update
To advance the $272 million indications of support previously announced on September 18, 2024 for the Selkirk Project, the Company has submitted the detailed application for $100 million in non-dilutive financial support and is now entering the due diligence phase. The Company is working on formalizing elements of the $72 million financial support from the Province of Manitoba and has held discussions with Manitoba based indigenous groups related to their participation in the Selkirk Project of $100 million utilizing the federal Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program.
Plans for a US Facility and a Strategic Glass Manufacturing Partner
The implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (the “IRA”) in the US has resulted in strong growth in solar installations and onshoring efforts within the solar supply-chain. As a result, solar panel manufacturing capacity is expected to increase from 12GW in 2022 to 52GW by the end of 2025. IRA policies also provide an incentive to end users of solar panels to maximize domestic content in solar panel installations, driving solar energy suppliers to locate and expand their manufacturing facilities in the US.
CPS customers in the US have expressed a desire for domestic solar glass supply, in addition to the Company’s low-carbon supply from the Selkirk Project. To address this, the Company evaluated sites with existing and under-utilized buildings, utility supply, logistics infrastructure and environmental permits to support a pattern solar glass manufacturing operation in the US. With this evaluation complete, the Company has selected a site that meets these criteria providing the opportunity for a lower capital cost facility to supplement the Selkirk Project.
The Company is now preparing plans to re-purpose a former glass manufacturing facility in the US to produce 4GW per year of solar glass and is advancing discussions with a potential strategic glass manufacturing partner to jointly develop this site. This strategic partner would bring glass manufacturing expertise, purchasing power for equipment and raw materials and in-house engineering capability. Re-purposing an existing manufacturing facility with a strategic partner will allow CPS to de-risk both the development of the project and operation of the facility.
CPS has established a wholly owned US subsidiary, CPS Glass USA Corp., and has applied for the US Department of Energy’s investment tax credit. The allocation decision for this application is expected in Q1 2025.
Strong Competitive Positioning and Long-Term Strategy
The Company’s low-iron sand deposit in Manitoba can support capacity for both proposed facilities for over 20 years. With both facilities providing a total of 10GW of solar glass combined, the Company is preparing to become the largest supplier of patterned solar glass and the only vertically integrated glass manufacturer in North America.
With manufacturing operations in both Canada and the US, each offering two distinct value propositions to its customers, CPS is positioning itself to be the preferred supplier of solar glass, providing a complete solution to its customers:
- low-carbon supply of solar glass from the Selkirk Project,
- supply of domestic content solar glass from the US facility, and
- on-shoring of solar glass supply chain eliminating the cost, carbon emissions and logistical burden of the current Asia Pacific solar glass supply chain.
“Establishing 10GW supply of both low-carbon and US manufactured ultra clear pattern solar glass aligns CPS with the supply chain goals of our North American customers”, stated Glenn Leroux, President & CEO of CPS. “Alignment with a strategic glass manufacturing partner supports the execution of our North American strategy and vision.”