China’s Yingli Green Energy is to construct a 50 megawatt solar photovoltaic park in Shanxi province as part of a government scheme.
The Top Runner programme launched by China’s National Energy Administration aims to develop 1-gigawatt capacity at a reclaimed mine in Datong city’s National Advanced PV Technology Demonstration Center.
Over the next 12 months the center is to install 1 gigawatt of photovoltaic capacity to be split among seven 100-MW solar farms, five 50-MW parks and a number of smaller arrays, a statement said.
The development would be part of a deal the center has signed with the municipal government and would become a national hub for PV technology research and development.
Yingli has stated that it has been chosen from among 20 firms to develop the solar project.
In recent times Yingli, a tier-1 solar cell manufacturer of China, has been under a cloud owing to its debt burden. As of March, the company had reported a debt load of $2.3 billion. In its annual report for 2014, the company stated that it may not be able to meet its obligations and that it had “substantial doubt” about its ability to remain in business.
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And subsequent reports suggested that the company could even stop production.
However, Yingli has been showing signs on the contrary. It recently introduced a 1,500-volt, utility-scale solar panel. Its latest demonstration project also appears to be a sign that the company is still in the reckoning.
The company also hopes to put up a good show this year. In Q1, 2015, it reported total module shipments of 754.2 MW.
It was an increase of more than 19.6 percent year on year and a historically high record of first quarter growth for the company.
Besides, Yingli also reported steady growth in its downstream business. It included development of 94 MW of utility and distributed generation projects in Q1, 2015.
The solar manufacturer also said it obtained a RMB300 million credit facility in April and was planning to invest it in construction of PV projects.
And for Q2, 2015, the company predicted PV module shipments to be in the estimated range of 720MW to 750MW, of which 40MW to 60MW of PV modules could come in shipments to the Company’s downstream PV projects.
For the year 2015, the company has forecast its total module shipments to be approximately 3.6GW, including 400-600MW of PV modules to downstream PV projects.
Ajith Kumar S