Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, the global vertically integrated photovoltaic ("PV") module manufacturer, known as "Yingli Solar," announced on November 13th that another milestone has been achieved. The sixteenth centre of FIFA's Football for Hope Program has been officially inaugurated in Alexandra, South Africa. In order to honor this occasion, Deputy Minister of Sport and Recreation, Mr. Gert Oosthuizen, FIFA's General Secretary, Mr. Jerome Valcke, representatives of the non-profit organization Grassroot Soccer (GRS), the South African Football Association (SAFA) and Yingli Green Energy jointly addressed the media.
The FIFA "20 Centres for 2010" campaign, which was called into life as part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ official corporate social responsibility program "Football for Hope," is nearing completion. Alongside FIFA, Yingli Green Energy, an Official Sponsor of the FIFA World Cup™ and the world's largest PV module manufacturer, utilized its expertise in renewable energy to provide solutions for this campaign to assist FIFA in improving the social environment for children in Africa with solar power. For the centre in Alexandra, Yingli Green Energy provided PV modules for the solar street lighting system.
Yingli Green Energy has equipped all centres with a total of 258 pieces of PV modules with a supply capacity of 23 kilowatt peak. Each centre was able to choose between a variety of photovoltaic systems such as a solar-powered lighting system for the playing field, a water pump including water reservoir or a photovoltaic power supply system. Since the launch of the campaign, 16 centres have been built across the African continent and four remaining centres pending by the end of the year or in 2014. FIFA has closely and constantly collaborated with the communities where the centres had been built, in order to ensure that the new infrastructure would meet the local needs. Each Football for Hope centre consists of a playing field for football and a building where educational projects take place and football is viewed as an instrument for promoting motivation and dialog within the community.
"We are happy to bring light and hope to the children in Africa," said Mrs. Judy Tzeng Lee, Vice President of Global Marketing at Yingli Green Energy. "Even though the project is coming to an end, the Centres will keep on supporting young people for many years. We look forward to continuing our partnership with FIFA in creating a more sustainable future through our expertise in renewable energy products and our passion for football."
The new centre in Alexandra represents a special place as football will be used to combat AIDS. In this, Grassroot Soccer is playing an important role. The South African non-profit organization is relying on football to reach young people and educate them about AIDS.
"Football is a popular sport and attracts youths all over the world," stated Mr. James Donald, Head of Grassroot Soccer for South Africa. "At the Alexandra Centre, we want to use the opportunity to educate youths about AIDS and teach them how they can avoid this disease. AIDS continues to be a major problem in Africa. The new Centre is an ideal spot to address this concern."