Yingli

The Chinese solar manufacturer today admitted it is in talks with its lenders and strategic investors about a break up of the company after its 2018 annual accounts revealed an apparently unserviceable debt pile. Any strategic investor is likely to constitute a Chinese state-backed bail-out.

Latest tirade may simply be a crude bid to up the ante with a high-profile Chinese deputation due to visit the U.S. in the latest round of trade talks this week but its timing is worrying for the Chinese solar companies struggling under huge debts.

With production and capacity figures provided by industry analyst IHS Markit, pv magazine provides a rundown of the top 10 crystalline silicon module manufacturers based on 2017 production data, followed by a look at the market forces and technology trends that have shaped the supply landscape.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited has been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, and expects to begin trading on the OTC Pink on July 2, where there are no disclosure requirements.

The annual SNEC photovoltaic power expo 2018, in Shanghai, closed yesterday after the 12th edition of the world’s biggest PV exhibition. Reflecting the rapid development of China’s PV industry, the scale of SNEC increased from 15,000 sqm at the first exhibition to 180,000 sqm last year and 200,000 this year – a 10% year-on-year increase. Preliminary figures show more than 220,000 visits to this year’s edition, with more than 5,000 industry professionals attending the expo and series of high-level conferences.

A court in China has ruled that Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Company Limited must pay back RMB 65.7 million in medium term notes, due from 2015 and 2016. The Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited subsidiary plans to appeal the decision.

Following the publication of its disastrous 2017 financials, Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited has now seen the filing of a request for arbitration for US$897.5 million in payments due from one of its long term polysilicon suppliers.

In reporting its FY 2017 financials, Yingli has again revealed that “substantial doubt exists as to the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” It is seeking to agree on a debt restructuring plan with creditors, and is asking them to refrain from initiating bankruptcy proceedings. Overall, it recorded a 2017 net loss of US$510 million and total liabilities of $3.2 billion. It has not issued guidance for this year.

The Oruro solar plant was tendered by the Bolivian government in April 2016. The $54.7 million facility will be connected to the network of local state-owned utility, ENDE.

Yingli Green Energy’s net loss widened to RMB 2.3 billion ($354.9 million) in the three months to the end of September, from just RMB 335.4 million a year earlier, as its PV module shipments fell roughly 48% from the preceding quarter to 597.7 MW.