Yingli Green Energy has announced its largest solar panel supply agreement to date in Israel and the Middle East.
The company will supply 27.5 MW of Yingli solar panels for a solar farm designated as a National Infrastructure Project by the Israeli Government. Assuming each panel is rated at 250 watts, this translates to 110,000 solar modules.
“We view Israel as an important and sustainable growth market with the potential to reach more than 340 MW of installed solar PV capacity in 2014,” said Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy.
Solar PV on a utility scale is a recent newcomer in Israel. Built in 2011, the 4.95MW Ketura Sun was Israel’s first utility scale solar farm. However, the country was an early adopter of solar hot water systems; with around 1 in 20 homes heating water using the sun by the mid to late 1960’s. Israel has set a goal of producing ten percent of the country’s energy from renewable sources by 2020.
In other recent Yingli news, the company announced last week it estimates its PV module shipment in the fourth quarter of 2013 increased by 11% to 12% from the third quarter of 2013.
Also announced last week was Yingli’s expanded sponsorship of the FC Bayern Munchen (FCB) Youth Cup, an international competition for young soccer players from across the world. The company will now host Youth Cup events in Thailand and Myanmar in addition to events already held in China and Japan.
Yingli appears to have a particular affection for soccer – it is a major sponsor of the FIFA World Cup and recently launched the Yingli Solar FIFA World Cup™ Finals Competition; which is open to entries from Australia.
“Football unifies diverse people across nations, cultures, and families, and at Yingli, we believe in the power of football – and solar energy – to positively impact communities in need, and to bring awareness to environmental issues,” says Mr. Miao.
