Yingli Green in Thai MOU
A unit of Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, Yingli Green Energy Singapore Company Pte. Limited, plans to install solar farms in Thailand in partnership with Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Kasikornbank Public Plc. and Solventia Solar Energy Co., Ltd. The companies have already inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) related to the latest venture.
Per the MoU, the companies will offer turnkey solar power solutions for the power plants and distributed generation projects across the nation.
Thailand’s energy landscape is shifting to focus on the consumption of solar energy due to its high solar exposure and ever-increasing demand for electricity. The Thai government aims to increase its total solar power capacity to 3 gigawatts by 2021. In addition, Thailand plans to meet around 20% of its energy requirement through renewable sources by 2022.
According to a Solarserver report posted in Nov 2014, Thailand’s Energy Ministry plans to purchase 800 megawatt (MW) electricity from solar photovoltaic (PV) farms in 2014–2015, which is significantly higher than the previous estimates.
Yingli Green has previous experience of working in Thailand. In May 2014, the company had formed a consortium with other firms, including HYDROCHINA International Engineering Co., Ltd. and Hebei Electric Power Design & Research Institute, to offer engineering, procurement and construction services to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand’s 5-MW solar plant.
Yingli Green’s peer Trina Solar Limited is also strengthening its presence in Thailand in attempt to tap the country’s growing solar energy demand. In Nov 2014, Trina Solar concluded the delivery of 7.8 MW modules to 10 rooftop solar power plants in Thailand.
Per GlobalData’s projections, the Asia-Pacific region will become a major solar market in the coming years. Like its peers, Canadian Solar Inc. and ReneSola Ltd. (SOL – Analyst Report), Yingli Green too is currently expanding its operations in this region, including Malaysia and Japan, besides solidifying operations in the U.S., Latin America and Europe.
In Aug 2014, the company’s Japanese subsidiary had supplied over 2-MW monocrystalline PV modules to Japan Benex Corporation for the latter’s Benex Nagareyama Solar Port. In another transaction, Yingli Green supplied 12-MW-peak solar modules to Malaysian projects.
A well-diversified set of contracts spread geographically will enable Yingli Green to increase cash flow.
