Chinese Yingli Energy to lift capacity to 4 GW - report

(ADPnews) - Sep 27, 2010 - Chinese solar energy firm Yingli Green Energy Holding Co Ltd (NYSE:YGE) is considering a four-fold boost in production capacity to 4 GW by 2011 to tap international demand, China Daily reported today, citing a company official.

CFO Bryan Li told the daily that the company, which makes photovoltaic (PV) modules and installs PV systems, has an estimated production capacity of 1 GW at present while orders for 2011 stood at 4 GW at end-June.

In August Yingli broke ground on a 100-MW multi-crystalline silicon solar-cell plant in the Chinese province of Hainan. The plant is estimated to cost CNY 770 million (USD 114.9m/EUR 85.3m) and is expected to be completed by May 2011. At the same time, the company's affiliated polysilicon-making plant, Fine Silicon, became operational with a designed annual capacity of 3,000 tonnes.

Yingli may also seek subcontractors to meet growing demand, Li said.

According to him, the company, which exports 90% of its production to the US and Europe and has a 10% market share in Germany, will not be affected by the expected slowdown in the PV markets in Europe after the reduction of government subsidies, as the price of polysilicon is falling as well. Li added that the gross margin of companies whose activities cover the whole production chain, such as Yingli, would not be reduced.

The export-oriented Chinese company is also looking at potential markets in India, Australia and the US to reduce its dependence on European customers.

To curb currency losses from the euro depreciation, Yingli plans to slightly increase prices by 3-5%, expecting to earn an additional USD 50 million-80 million.

(CNY 1 = USD 0.149/EUR 0.111)

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