Yingli to Build Integrated PV Base in Hainan    

Yingli Group has agreed to invest RMB11 billion over the next three to five years to build a photovoltaic industrial base in Hainan province. The company signed a deal with the Hainan provincial government in Haikou on April 19th, 2010
   The proposed plant is planned at the Shiziling in the Haikou's Gaoxin district. The site was carefully selected due to its proximity to feedstock - only an hour's drive to Wenchang and Danzhou, the major production areas for quartz sand with sufficient supply to meet the planned plant's silicon raw material demand. Also, this location could help shorten delivery time to customers in Europe and the United States. Hainan is estimated to have proven quartz ore reserves of roughly 2.1 billion tons, and prospective reserves of 10 billion tons, or 60% of China's total.
   Yingli holds an 80% stake in the proposed plant, while its partner, Hainan Development Holding Company, owns the balance. The first phase, which requires an investment of RMB760 million and covers 18 hectares, will be capable of producing 100 megawatts of polysilicon PV cell products a year when operation starts on June 25th. Construction on the second phase, which covers 33 hectares and is of 200 MW a year of crystalline silicon cell, will start two months later. The third phase, covering 133 hectares, will include a silicon material production plant and some auxiliary projects under the development plan.
   By 2013, Yingli plans to increase its capacity to 3 000 t/a in Hainan for electronics-grade silicon materials and crystalline silicon solar PV cells, along with new type flywheel energy storage equipment and PV supporting projects and PV labs. It is estimated that by 2015, Yingli will basically build a complete PV industry chain and supporting system in Hainan that covers strategic green industries ranging from new energy, new materials to energy saving and environmental protection and information networks, as well as high-end talent nurturing.
   At present, Hebei province-based Yingli has total assets of RMB18 billion, with a production capacity of 800 MW a year. About 90% of its products are for the European and the US markets.
   In September 2009, Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric Co., Ltd. (SH: 600550), which is also from Hebei, announced its subsidiary Tianwei Thin Film PV Co. has signed a deal with Thailand's Green Energy as it entered the southeast Asia market. Tianwei Thin Film is part owned by Yingli.