Yingli Green Energy adds to polysilicon and ingot capacity

Yingli Green Energy has made further polysilicon supply procurements and furnace purchases in its bid to double production in 2008 from 200MW to 400MW in polysilicon ingots, wafers, PV cells and PV modules. A new polysilicon supply agreement with an unidentified supplier adds 40MW of PV modules over the life of three separate contracts, according to the company. Yingli currently expects the delivery of the polysilicon under the contracts to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2008.   “We are delighted to have entered into these contracts which we expect will further strengthen our polysilicon supply for the near future,” said Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy. “Actively seeking to further establish and strengthen our strategic relationships with our suppliers has been one of our key strategic initiatives and we will continue to aggressively pursue this strategic initiative at a time global polysilicon supply remains tight.”

In a separate move, Yingli Green Energy has purchased multiple DSS450 furnaces from GT Solar. This is Yingli's fourth and largest order of GT Solar's DSS furnaces that grow multi-crystalline ingots up to 450kg, which is worth $56 million, according to GT Solar.

GT Solar President and CEO Tom Zarrella said: “Their purchase of our new DSS 450 furnace will provide up to 80 percent more capacity per cycle and within the same footprint of our prior generation furnace.“

Upon installation and ramp, Yingli said that its installed ingot capacity would reach approximately 600MW in 2009.