Yingli and Namene Form Joint Venture to Develop Utility-Scale Solar Projects in West Africa

BAODING, China, Sept. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. ("Yingli" or "Yingli Solar") (NYSE:YGE), one of the world's leading solar panel manufacturers, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Yingli Green Energy Europe GmbH ("Yingli Europe") and Namene Energy International Limited ("Namene"), a leading renewable energy solutions developer focused on West Africa, have formed a new joint venture, Yingli Namene West Africa Limited ("JV" or "Yingli Namene West Africa"). The JV aims to develop a total of 100 megawatts (MW) of utility-scale solar projects and up to 50 MW of commercial rooftop projects in Ghana and neighboring countries over the coming years and Yingli Europe will serve as the JV's preferred solar panel supplier.

According to agreements between Yingli Europe and Namene, each party holds 50% of the JV's equity. All application procedures during the project development will be funded by the JV's shareholders. Upon the completion of all the application procedures, the JV will explore the financing solutions from banks and other financial institutions to support project construction. Yingli Namene West Africa Limited will be headquartered in Accra, Ghana, and its first utility-scale projects are already under development. Construction is expected to start in 2017.

"Today's announcement marks Yingli's first investment in West African renewable energy projects as well as the continued expansion of our global downstream business," said Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and CEO of Yingli Green Energy. "We are pleased to partner with Namene, and believe that our JV is positioned to quickly execute and become successful in this market."

"As one of the world's leading solar panel manufacturers, Yingli has the right industry capabilities, brand and expertise to understand our local business requirements," said Mr. Patrick Lagrange, CEO of Namene Energy International Limited. "Therefore, Yingli is an ideal partner for us to grow our business in this fast emerging market."

"Namene is active in West Africa and has built a team of dedicated and highly experienced professionals with in-depth knowledge and understanding of the energy sector in this region. Therefore, our JV with Namene is expected to deliver significant synergies and value across the development and installation of large-scale solar projects in West Africa. These transactions will provide clean, reliable and affordable energy to a country with strong demand for power generation capacity to support further economic growth," remarked Mr. Ralph Schneider, Head of Commercial of Yingli Europe. "By joining forces we can consolidate our downstream pipeline well into 2017 and beyond."

About Yingli Green Energy

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE), known as "Yingli Solar," is one of the world's leading solar panel manufacturers. Yingli Green Energy's manufacturing covers the photovoltaic value chain from ingot casting and wafering through solar cell production and solar panel assembly. Headquartered in Baoding, China, Yingli Green Energy has more than 30 regional subsidiaries and branch offices and has distributed more than 13 GW solar panels to customers worldwide. For more information, please visit www.yinglisolar.com and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Weibo.

About Namene Energy International Limited

Namene Energy International Limited ("Namene") is a developer of renewable energy solutions with a primary market in Africa. Namene is active in the solar photovoltaic market in Togo (Namene Energy Togo SARL) and Ghana (under the trading name SolarGen Ghana). Namene's core business is in project development and financing. It brings to fruition turnkey investment programs (from site location to obtaining all the required permits and licenses) with above average return on investment. Namene offers investors only "bankable" projects ready to be implemented thus eliminating development risks. To achieve its goals, Namene has built a team of dedicated and highly experienced professionals both in the EU and West Africa with in-depth knowledge and understanding of the energy sector in the sub-region.

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
Vice President of Corporate Communications
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited
Tel: +86 312 8929787
E-mail: [email protected]

In the Americas:

Tori Clifford
Director of Marketing
Yingli Green Energy Americas Inc.
Tel: +1 415 728 0472
Email: [email protected] 

In Europe:

Carolin Stahler
Marketing Communications Manager Europe
Yingli Green Energy Europe GmbH
Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited

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