SolarBank Corporation (Nasdaq: SUUN) (Cboe CA: SUNN) (FSE: GY2) has marked a successful 2024 with major financial transactions, strategic acquisitions, and key project developments. The company continues to expand its role in clean energy, delivering reliable and sustainable power across North America.
SolarBank is an independent renewable energy developer specializing in distributed and community solar projects across Canada and the U.S. The company focuses on solar, battery energy storage, and EV charging solutions, serving utilities, commercial entities, municipalities, and residential customers.
With a pipeline exceeding one gigawatt and over 100 megawatts of completed projects, SolarBank continues to drive the clean energy transition forward. Dr. Richard Lu, CEO of SolarBank, highlighted the company’s achievements last year, stating,
“We experienced another year of tremendous growth and accomplishments in 2024 with a number of significant milestones achieved, including project completions, major acquisitions, execution on the development pipeline, major project sales and senior stock exchange listings. We predict continued forward momentum on these projects and new initiatives, on all of which we will provide ongoing updates as appropriate.”
Big Money Moves: SolarBank Key Financial Transactions and Acquisitions
SolarBank secured over US$ 67.5 million in financial commitments from strategic and financial partners. Among the key deals are:
- $49.5 million transaction with Qcells for the sale and construction of four solar projects in New York. These projects will use U.S.-manufactured Qcells solar modules, aligning with the broader $2.8 billion investment by Qcells in U.S. solar manufacturing.
- $25.8 million project finance facility from the Royal Bank of Canada to fund two battery energy storage projects acquired through Solar Flow-Through Funds Ltd.
- $45 million acquisition of Solar Flow-Through Funds Ltd. (SFF), strengthening SolarBank’s portfolio and expanding its renewable energy footprint.
Corporate Growth and Market Presence
SolarBank has strengthened its corporate presence through stock exchange listings and leadership expansion. The company made a significant leap in market positioning when it began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market on April 8, 2024. It achieves qualification under the second-highest tier of eligibility requirements. This move not only enhances SolarBank’s visibility but also provides greater access to capital markets.
Earlier in the year, on February 14, 2024, SolarBank secured a listing on Cboe Canada, a trading platform that handles over US$ 67 billion in average daily trading volume. This dual listing underscores the company’s growing reputation and financial stability.
In addition to market expansion, SolarBank has reinforced its leadership team. Chelsea L. Nickles, a renewable energy expert with over 20 years of experience, joined the board as an independent director. Her background includes significant contributions to offshore wind projects for Ørsted, a global leader in the sector, positioning her as a valuable asset to SolarBank’s strategic vision.
The Data Center Pivot: Eyeing AI-powered Solutions
In addition to solar energy, SolarBank is venturing into the growing data center sector. The company aims to become a developer, owner, and strategic partner in data center infrastructure, integrating sustainable energy solutions to support artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing.
While no data center projects are under development yet, SolarBank is actively exploring opportunities and plans to provide updates on future agreements.
Key Solar Projects and Developments
SolarBank has made significant progress in expanding its renewable energy portfolio with multiple projects across North America. Notable developments include:
- $41 million transaction with Honeywell International Inc.: SolarBank reached mechanical completion on three community solar projects under an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract with Honeywell. The company expects to retain operations and maintenance responsibilities post-construction.
- Fiera Real Estate Pilot Project: Construction began on a 1.4 MW rooftop solar project in Alberta for Fiera Real Estate. The company manages over US$7 billion in commercial real estate.
Other major solar projects in the pipeline include:
- Geddes Solar Project (3.7 MW DC) in New York: Expected to provide green energy to 500 homes.
- Greenville, NY Community Solar (14 MW DC total): Expected to serve 1,600 homes.
- Nassau, NY Solar Project (3 MW DC): Designed to supply energy to 350 homes.
- Skaneateles & Lewiston, NY (19.3 MW DC total): Three community solar projects expected to power 2,260 homes.
- Camillus, NY Solar Project (3.15 MW DC): Designed to provide energy to 360 homes.
- Nova Scotia Community Solar Program (31 MW DC total): Projects developed in partnership with TriMac Engineering to supply green energy to 4,000 homes.
Ongoing and Future Projects
SolarBank continues to expand with new developments across multiple locations. Some key upcoming projects include:
- Oak Orchard Project (7 MW DC) in Clay, NY.
- Boyle Project (5.4 MW DC) in Broome County, NY, incorporating agrivoltaics, where solar panels share land with agricultural activities.
- Hwy 28 Project (7 MW DC) in Middletown, NY.
- Silver Springs Project (2.9 MW DC) in Gainesville, NY.
- Three Pennsylvania Community Solar Projects (24.8 MW DC total), pending state legislative approval.
- North Main Project (7.2 MW DC) in Wyoming County, NY.
- West Petpeswick Project (3.1 MW DC) in Nova Scotia.
Future-Proofing Growth: Risks, Rewards, and What’s Next for SolarBank
Despite its strong progress, SolarBank faces several risks that could impact its growth trajectory. The completion of solar projects depends heavily on third-party financing, which may introduce delays or unforeseen construction challenges.
Additionally, regulatory and policy uncertainties could affect the economic feasibility of future developments and solar growth, as government incentives play a crucial role in clean energy investments.
SolarBank’s planned entry into the data center market also comes with risks. While the company sees significant potential in this sector, no agreements have been finalized, and the initiative remains in the exploratory phase. The success of this venture will depend on securing viable partnerships and developing infrastructure that aligns with sustainability goals.
SolarBank’s rapid growth in 2024 highlights its strong position in the renewable energy sector. With successful financial deals, key acquisitions, and a growing project portfolio, the company is well-positioned to capitalize on clean energy demand.
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The accounting differences that decide whether your nature investment shows up in inventory, in BVCM, or nowhere at all.
The question reaches a procurement team about three weeks before the next sustainability committee meeting. Someone has read about insetting. Someone else has just signed off on an offset purchase. The CSO wants to know if the two are interchangeable. The answer is no, and the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard is the reason why.
This article walks through what each term means at audit-grade specificity, what the standards actually say about how each gets counted, and how to decide which tool fits which target. The insetting vs offsetting question is one of the most-searched in corporate climate strategy, and one of the most poorly answered. By the end of this piece, you should be able to brief a committee on the difference without notes.
The two definitions, in plain English
Offsetting means buying carbon credits generated outside your value chain and retiring them against your residual emissions. The reduction happens somewhere else, financed by you, and the credit is the receipt.
Insetting means investing in emission reductions or removals inside your own value chain, typically with suppliers, where the reduction is directly linked to the products and services you buy. The reduction happens inside the boundary of your Scope 3 inventory, and the accounting treatment is fundamentally different.
The shorthand from the University of Oxford’s Nature-based Insetting Initiative is useful: insetting is what you do with the supply chain you have; offsetting is what you do with the supply chain you do not have.
What the GHG Protocol Land Sector Standard actually says
The GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard, finalised in 2024 after a multi-year pilot, sets the rules for how land-based emission reductions and removals enter corporate inventories. The Standard distinguishes between inventory accounting (Scope 1, 2, and 3) and project or intervention accounting (a separate methodology for crediting).
For insetting, the practical implication is that supplier-level interventions, when properly measured and attributed, can reduce your Scope 3 category 1 (purchased goods and services) emissions in your inventory. The reduction is not a credit retired against the inventory; it is a lower inventory number, period.
For offsetting, the credit is retired separately. It can be reported as a contribution toward a net-zero claim under the SBTi Beyond Value Chain Mitigation framework or as part of a VCMI Carbon Integrity claim, but it does not lower the inventory number.
A practical consequence: if your Science Based Target requires a 50% absolute reduction in Scope 3 emissions by 2030, insetting moves you toward the target. Offsetting does not. This single point of difference reshapes the procurement decision.
When insetting counts toward Scope 3 (and when it does not)
Insetting counts toward Scope 3 only when several conditions are met:
- The intervention must occur with an entity in your value chain.
- The emissions reduction or removal must be measured against a defensible baseline.
- The reduction must be attributed to your share of that supplier’s output, not double-counted with other buyers.
- It must follow the inventory accounting rules in the GHG Protocol Land Sector Standard, not the project accounting rules used to generate credits.
The most common failure mode is double counting. If your supplier sells the same reduction as a credit on the voluntary market and also reports it to you as a Scope 3 reduction, the math breaks. The Standard requires you to address this risk, typically by purchasing and retiring the supplier-issued credit as part of your inventory or by contractual provisions that prevent the supplier from selling the reduction twice.
When insetting does not count toward Scope 3: when the intervention sits with a supplier you do not buy from, when the baseline is not defensible, when the attribution is unclear, or when the documentation does not survive audit. Those cases default to Beyond Value Chain Mitigation, which is still useful but operates on a different ledger.
The procurement and supplier engagement question
Insetting is harder than offsetting. That is the unfashionable truth most buyers eventually confront. Offsetting is a transaction; insetting is a relationship.
To run an insetting program, you need supplier mapping precise enough to know which farms or facilities sit at which Scope 3 boundary. You need an engagement model that gets suppliers to participate, which usually requires multi-year commitments and shared economics. You need an MRV architecture that measures the right things and produces audit-ready documentation. And you need a contractual structure that prevents double counting and protects both sides.
The trade-off you receive in return is significant. Reductions count against your inventory rather than your residual. Supplier relationships deepen, which protects sourcing continuity. Yield and quality improvements often follow regenerative interventions, which reduces your input cost over time. And the regulatory file, under CSRD, CSDDD, EUDR, and the SBTi FLAG Guidance, is materially stronger.
Choosing the right tool for the right target
A practical decision rule. If your target is a science-based Scope 3 reduction and you operate in a FLAG sector or source FLAG commodities, insetting is the structurally correct tool. If your target is a net-zero claim that includes neutralising hard-to-abate residual emissions outside your value chain, BVCM via high-integrity offsets is the structurally correct tool. Most companies with material Scope 3 exposure need both, in different proportions, sequenced over time.
The sequencing matters. Insetting takes longer to stand up but produces a permanent reduction in the inventory. Offsetting can be transacted faster but does not change the inventory and now sits under tighter claim restrictions. Treat them as complementary tools with different jobs, not as substitutes. The Accountability Framework Initiative and the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions both provide useful guardrails for the insetting side, with biodiversity, human rights, and benefit-sharing requirements that go beyond carbon math.
If you are mapping a Scope 3 reduction roadmap and need to scope which interventions count toward your inventory versus which sit in Beyond Value Chain Mitigation, the carbon and sustainability experts at Carbon Credit Capital can help you structure a nature-based supply chain investment program that fits your FLAG exposure, your target architecture, and your audit horizon. Schedule a consultation.
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