Updates on In-house Polysilicon Manufacturing Facility
Appointment of New Chief Operating Officer
BAODING, China, April 15 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) ("Yingli Green Energy" or the "Company"), a leading solar energy company and one of the world's largest vertically integrated photovoltaic manufacturers, which holds the brand "Yingli Solar," today provided updates on Fine Silicon Co., Ltd. ("Fine Silicon"), its in-house polysilicon manufacturing facility with a designed annual production capacity of 3,000 metric tons ("MT"). The Company also announced that Mr. Xiaoqiang Zheng will take over the position of Chief Operating Officer, replacing Dr. Seok Jin Lee who has resigned to pursue other interests.
Updates on In-house Polysilicon Manufacturing Facility
Yingli Green Energy provided updates on Fine Silicon, its in-house polysilicon manufacturing facility with a designed annual production capacity of 3,000 MT.
Fine Silicon's trial production program consists of three main steps, including Silane production, trial operation of the Chemical Vapor Deposition ("CVD") Reactor, and the associated process steps. As previously announced, Fine Silicon successfully commenced trial production and reached certain key technology and operating milestones in December 2009. As of the date of this press release, the Company has completed approximately 75% of the trials for the polysilicon production process, including successful trial operation of the CVD Reactor and nearly half of the trials for the Silane production process. Based on these milestones, the Company remains confident in the original trial production schedule for Fine Silicon, with the target of achieving fully integrated polysilicon production in mid-2010. In addition, the Company confirmed that it has no plans to further expand its polysilicon manufacturing capacity beyond the current 3,000 MT in the near future while it focuses on completing the Fine Silicon trial production.
"We are very excited to have reached these significant technical milestones," said Mr. Yuehe Zhang, General Manager of Fine Silicon. "With advanced monosilane-based polysilicon manufacturing technology, we believe it is reasonable to spend about six months on the three main steps of trial production. The successful trial operation of our CVD Reactor proves the significant electricity-saving advantages of the technology we have adopted for Fine Silicon. We look forward to polysilicon production cost declining gradually as a result of continued utilization rate improvement."
Appointment of New Chief Operating Officer
Yingli Green Energy also announced that Mr. Xiaoqiang Zheng will take over the position of Chief Operating Officer, replacing Dr. Seok Jin Lee who has resigned to pursue other interests.
Mr. Xiaoqiang Zheng has been with the company since 2000. During his nine years at the company, Mr. Zheng has served in a variety of roles, including Manager of the Wafer Workshop, Manager of the Research and Development Center, Chief Engineer of the Technical Department, as well as Equipment Manager and Production Planning Manager. Mr. Zheng received his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Hebei University of Technology.
"Mr. Zheng has extensive technological and operational experience in the solar industry and fully understands each step of Yingli Green Energy's integrated value chain," Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy, commented. "We have no doubt that Mr. Zheng will be a great asset to us in his new capacity, and we look forward to working together as he leads our manufacturing and technology team to further optimize our manufacturing process, improve our cost structure and ensure the continued product quality that our customers have come to expect."
Mr. Miao concluded, "We are very grateful for Dr. Li's years of service to Yingli Green Energy and sincerely wish him all the best in his future endeavors."
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE), which holds the brand Yingli Solar, is a leading solar energy company and one of the world's largest vertically integrated photovoltaic manufacturers. Yingli Green Energy's manufacturing covers the entire photovoltaic value chain, from the production of polysilicon through ingot casting and wafering, to solar cell production and module assembly. As of today, Yingli Green Energy maintains a balanced production capacity of over 600 MW per year. Two capacity expansion projects of 300 MW and 100 MW are under construction in Baoding and Hainan, respectively, and are expected to bring Yingli Green Energy's total production capacity to 1 GW by the end of 2010. Yingli Green Energy distributes its photovoltaic modules to a wide range of markets, including Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, South Korea, China and the United States. Headquartered in Baoding, China, Yingli Green Energy has more than 6,000 employees and more than 10 subsidiaries and branch offices worldwide. Yingli Green Energy is an official sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup (TM) in South Africa and is proud to be the first renewable energy and first Chinese sponsor in World Cup's history. Yingli Green Energy is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: YGE). For more information, please visit http://www.yinglisolar.com .
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "target" and similar statements. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions, and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond Yingli Green Energy's control, which may cause Yingli Green Energy's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in Yingli Green Energy's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Yingli Green Energy does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.
For further information, please contact:
In China:
Qing Miao
Director, Investor Relations
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited
Tel: +86-312-3100-502
Email: ir@yinglisolar.com
Courtney Shike
Brunswick Group LLC
Tel: +86-10-6566-2256
Email: cshike@brunswickgroup.com
In the United States:
Katie Cralle
Brunswick Group LLC
Tel: +1-212-333-3810
Email: kcralle@brunswickgroup.com
