Yingli solar has started the construction of a 50 MW solar power plant on former mining lands in Huangshi City of Hubei Province in China.
Yingli solar will supply about 170,000 YGE 72 Cell Series multicrystalline solar panels for the project.
It is expected that the plant will be grid connected and the operations will be started by the fourth quarter of 2015.
The plant will generate approximately 55,000 MWh of clean electricity annually.
The generated power is sufficient to offset the consumption of nearly 22,000 tons of coal and the emission of over 50,000 tons of carbon into the atmosphere.
This is the first project developed by Yingli on land that has been degraded by mining activities.
The western Huangshi City is a region known for its rich mineral resources and extensive mining operations.
Huangshi City was designated a pilot city for the reclamation of abandoned mining lands and former industrial sites by China’s Ministry of Land and Resources in January 2013.
The plant is expected to serve as a key demonstration project for the integration of solar power into land revitalization programs across China.
Yingli will also develop an educational visitor’s center near the project site to help showcase the unique value solar power brings to land reclamation efforts.
In another development in China, Yingli Solar completed the grid connection of a 10 MW solar power plant in Hebei Province.
The solar power plant is located in Fuping and will produce more than 12,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year.
Last month, Yingli Green Energy based in Singapore secured a contract to supply panels for a one MW solar farm in the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo.
Yingli will supply nearly 4,000 multicrystalline YGE 60 Cell Series panels that will generate approx. 1.5 million kWh of power annually.
Sabeena Wahid
editor@greentechlead.com