Yesterday, high purity tellurium refiner and producer, Apollo Solar Energy, Inc., announced that it has signed an agreement with Ningguo Municipal Government to build a 2MW demo solar power station in Ningguo City, Anhui Province, China. As per the agreement, Apollo Solar will invest approximately $8.75 million to build the demo station and will assume responsibility for the construction of the entire project, whose date to begin operation is slated in September 2010.
The newly signed agreement provides for the payment of subsidies to Apollo Solar from central, provincial and local government entities in the People’s Republic of China. The payments will cover electricity generated by the power station; Apollo Star believes that the availability of the various subsidies lays the foundation for the potential profitability of solar power stations. Further, the company sees it as a way to attract potential investors.
Renyi Hou, CEO, commented, “We are very pleased to sign the agreement with Ningguo Municipal Government to build the 2 MW demo solar power station, the first project of those contemplated by the non-binding letter of intent signed in April between Apollo Solar and the Ningguo Municipal Government. Apollo Solar has purchased 2 MW of thin film solar panels in the US and we expect the shipment to arrive at Ningguo City in mid- June of 2010. We then anticipate completing the installation of the 2 MW of thin film solar panels, and beginning testing of the operation, by the end of September, 2010.”
Mr. Hou continued, “We believe that governmental support for the solar PV industry, including Cadmium-Telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar cells, could lead to the commercialization of solar power stations. At the Mediterranean Solar Plan Conference on May 11, in Valencia, Spain, the International Energy Agency, IEA, predicted that 20-25% of total electricity supply will come from solar power stations before 2050 if governments continue current subsidy policies for the solar PV industry, though current solar power is far below 1%. Apollo Solar plans to procure high quality thin film solar panels with competitive pricing through OEM agreements which we believe will allow us to enter the downstream solar PV industry to build and operate solar power stations.”
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