Yingli Green Energy Auctions Original 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM) Football to Help Football for Hope Campaign
Wirsol Solar AG makes winning bid and donates 21,000 euros
to fund charitable projects in Africa
BAODING, China and WAGHAUESEL, Germany, July 9 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) ("Yingli Green Energy" or the "Company"), a leading solar energy company and one of the world's largest vertically integrated photovoltaic manufacturers, which holds the brand "Yingli Solar," has auctioned off an original football signed by the world's best football players, to Wirsol Solar AG for 21,000 euros. The proceeds will help to fund "20 Centres for 2010," which is part of the Football for Hope movement and the official campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM).
The creme de la creme, including Kaka, Ronaldo and Messi have been immortalised through their names on an original 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM) football. The ball has travelled all around the world collecting what makes it so valuable -- the autographs of 11 of the world's best players. It is impossible to estimate the ball's intangible value, but at least the auction established what it is worth in monetary terms. The founders of Wirsol Solar AG won the ball with their bid of 21,000 euros at an auction organised by FIFA World Cup(TM) sponsor Yingli Solar.
The proceeds from the auction will go to Football for Hope, a movement that uses the power of the game for positive social change. It is led by FIFA, the world football governing body, and streetfootballworld. "20 Centres for 2010" is part of the Football for Hope movement and the official campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM). The aim is to achieve positive social change by combining the love of football with programmes reaching out to young people and addressing challenges with education and public health programmes.
20 centres are being built in structurally weak regions in Africa and will remain as a social legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM) long after the tournament is over. Yingli Green Energy will actively support the campaign by providing solar power to training centres across Africa. Social responsibility is an important pillar of Yingli Green Energy's core values. The company is engaged in a variety of community-focused projects around the world -- aiming to make solar power a sustainable and cost-effective energy for the world.
Teamwork is crucial -- in football and in the solar industry
"This football is a wonderful symbol of the values our company stands for," said Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy. "In the solar industry, too, it is all about the best players reaching a common goal by working as a team. That's why we're very happy to team up with Wirsol," Mr. Miao continued.
"We just thought it was a great idea that the world's best football players have made this gesture towards supporting sustainable development projects in Africa," commented Wirsol founder Markus Wirth. This is why he was pleased to have made the winning offer in the face of competition from quite a few other bidders at the Intersolar trade fair, where the ball was auctioned by the Company.
The auction's proceeds were presented on June 30, 2010 to Federico Addiechi, Head of FIFA's Corporate Social Responsibility department, during a press conference in Johannesburg organised by Yingli Green Energy.
Delight all around -- 11 football superstars signed the ball:
The dream team of the world's greatest football players who signed the ball is made up as follows: Kaka (Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite), Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas Fernandez, Daniel Alves da Silva, John George Terry, Patrice Evra, Steven George Gerrard, Xavier Hernandez i Creus, Andres Iniesta Lujan, Fernando Torres and Lionel Andres Messi.
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE), which holds the brand "Yingli Solar", is a leading solar energy company and one of the world's largest vertically integrated photovoltaic manufacturers. Yingli Green Energy's manufacturing covers the entire photovoltaic value chain, from the production of polysilicon, through ingot casting and wafering to solar cell production and module assembly. As of today, Yingli Green Energy maintains a balanced production capacity of over 600 MW per year. Two capacity expansion projects of 300 MW and 100 MW located in Baoding and Hainan, respectively, have started initial production in early July 2010, and are expected to bring the total nameplate capacity of Yingli Green Energy to 1 GW by the end of third quarter 2010. In addition, Yingli Green Energy's in-house polysilicon plant, Fine Silicon, which has a designed annual production capacity of 3,000 metric tons, is at the final stage of the segment trial process, and is expected to start fully integrated production from mid-2010. Yingli Green Energy distributes its photovoltaic modules to a wide range of markets, including Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, South Korea, China and the United States. Headquartered in Baoding, China, Yingli Green Energy has more than 7,000 employees and more than 10 subsidiaries and branch offices worldwide. Yingli Green Energy is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: YGE). For more information, please visit http://www.yinglisolar.com .
About Wirsol Solar AG
Wirsol AG is a globally active and expanding photovoltaics services company with subsidiaries in Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, France, UK, USA and Turkey. Having installed more than 3,500 photovoltaics systems, we are market leaders in the range of small and medium sized installations. Wirsol is internationally recognised as an experienced and professional provider of cutting-edge commercial solutions for PV installations, consultation, planning, installation, maintenance, support and financing. Coordinating all of these aspects, WIRSOL is a one-stop shop for customers, providing them with efficient energy production and the best possible financial returns -- often guaranteed by the state, through local energy feed-in tariffs. For more information, please contact Thomas Sillmann at [email protected], +49 (7254) 9578-776, or visit the Wirsol Solar AG website at http://www.wirsol.de .
Safe Harbour 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
Director, Investor Relations
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited
Tel: +86-312-310-0502
Email: [email protected]
In the Americas:
Judy Tzeng Lee
Director of Corporate Development
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited
Tel: +1-510-847-3920
Email: [email protected]
In Europe:
Rebecca Jarschel
Brand Manager
Yingli Green Energy Europe GmbH
Tel: +49-89-540-303-412
Email: [email protected]
SOURCE Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited
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