New joint venture to develop utility-scale PV-Projects in West Africa

Baoding, China

The JV, named Yingli Namene West Africa, 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.

"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.

Source: IWR Online, 03 Sep 2015