Apr 20 2010
Apollo Solar Energy, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ASOE) ("Apollo Solar" or "the Company"), a leading vertically integrated miner, refiner and producer of high purity tellurium (Te) and tellurium-based metals for the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry and specific segments of the electronic materials market worldwide in the People's Republic of China, today announced the Company has signed a non- binding Letter of Intent with the Ningguo City Municipal Government to enter into a future joint venture that would build and operate the Ningguo-Apollo Solar Energy Community, to be located in Anhui Province, China.
The non-binding Letter of Intent provides Apollo with an opportunity to become a significant shareholder in a future venture with the Ningguo City Investment Company that could demonstrate the cost-efficient use of solar energy on a community-wide scale. In accordance with the non-binding Letter of Intent, Apollo would exclusively manage and operate the construction of Ningguo-Apollo Solar Energy Community. Apollo would become a 51% shareholder of the joint venture, and Ningguo City Investment Company, Chengdu Zhongguang Photoelectric Corporation, and other investors would jointly own 49% of the shares of the venture. The new all-solar energy community will likely cover an area between 30 and 50 square kilometers.
The non-binding Letter of Intent contemplates the building, on a project- by-project basis, of a group of grid-connected solar power stations, economical lighting systems, and solar photovoltaic (PV) industrial parks to showcase a model community neighborhood using photovoltaic/thermal integrated buildings. The parties anticipate the aggregate investment to be made by the joint venture in creating the new community, including the building of a 10 GW grid-connected solar power station, will be between 60-100 billion Chinese Yuan (US $8.5-$14 billion), and will take between 6-8 years to complete.
Apollo believes this project will make Ningguo the first city in China to use solar energy as its primary source, integrating modern environmentally friendly and efficient solar energy, to realize the goal of creating a zero- emission city in China.
"We believe that using clean and renewable energy sources, including solar energy, protects the earth through the restriction of carbon emissions," stated Mr. Renyi Hou, the CEO of the Company. "We also believe that governmental support for solar PV industry, including Cadmium-Telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar cells, will lead to higher wholesale volume production. As a major high-purity Te supplier, Apollo expects to provide material and technology that will improve CdTe thin film PV efficiency."
"Following our entry into another joint venture, in December 2009, with Bengbu Design & Research Institute for Glass Industry ("Bengbu"), a subsidiary of China Construction Material Group, the largest producer of glass material and cement in China, Apollo has become increasingly involved in the development of the solar photovoltaic industry," Mr. Hou commented. "By cooperating with other solar photovoltaic cell producers, we expect to take advantage of our exclusive source of high purity Te, CdTe, and other related photovoltaic materials, to manufacture more effective and more economical solar photovoltaic cells." Mr. Hou also noted, "Our first project of the venture will likely be to build group grid-connected solar energy stations in Ningguo City. If the project is successful, we anticipate extending the all- solar energy model into other cities in China and other countries. We believe the possible expansion of our business to the downstream solar photovoltaic industry will bring additional value to our shareholders."