A CNY 1 (16 US cents) per kWh feed-in tariff for large PV projects connecting to the transmission grid ended on 1 January, creating the year-end rush. China’s National Energy Administration announced earlier this month that there were 12GW of 2013 installations, but this preliminary estimate may be exceeded.
China FIT
China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has announced three regional pricing variations for the nation’s feed-in tariff for solar photovoltaic (PV) generation, which it says are based on available solar resources and construction costs.
A price of RMB0.43 will be paid for each kilowatt-hour generated by new Chinese nuclear power plants, according to a ruling by the National Development and Reform Commission intended to incentivise construction. This equates to $70/MWh.
The biomass industry in China is currently at a stage of development and is supported by a Feed-in Tariff mechanism. Currently, natural gas contributes 5GW to China’s total installed power generation capacity. As China targets emission cuts, the authorities closed small coal fueled power plants with a total generation capacity of over 25 million kWh in 2011.
“The feed-in tariffs may vary according to local irradiation conditions,” said Wang Xiaoting, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in Beijing. “It is less likely that the current tariff of 1 yuan (16 U.S. cents) a kilowatt- hour will be cut for western regions by 2014, while the rate for less sunny locations may get higher for utility applications.”. .
In terms of produced electricity, China has grown 540% from last year. And in terms of capacity, 2.71 GW of capacity added in the first nine months of this year are already a 4.2 fold increase on last year. . .
China’s domestic photovoltaic (PV) market made a slow start to the year, with just 720 megawatts (MW) installed in the first half, according to the latest research from IMS Research (recently acquired by IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS)). However, installations are forecast to surge in the second half, with more than four gigawatts (GW) of PV installations to be completed, taking full year installations to five GW, according to the Q3’12 edition of the China PV Market – Supply and Demand Quarterly report, released in September. . .
The Peoples Republic of China passed a Renewable Energy Law in early March 2005. The passage of the Renewable Energy … Read more
The move to raise the surcharge rate has considerably boosted the medium-term outlook for solar in China and led to notable stock market jumps for Suntech, JA Solar, Yingli Green and several other Chinese PV firms. Increased developer confidence will also spark further growth downstream, helping the country move closer to achieving its long-term renewable goals.
According to the report, 195 projects, with a total capacity of over 1.8 GW, will be installed within 2011. That installed capacity in China will closely match the installed capacity in the US this year. Stimulated by the Qinghai 930 program as well as unified national feed-in tariff (FIT) policy, 54% of the capacity in megawatt terms will be located in the northwest region.
