China to install no more than 10 GW solar in 2014 - report

Nov 24, 2014 - China will install 10 GW of solar farms in 2014 at best, failing to achieve its target for the year and falling 3 GW behind 2013 results, the South China Morning Post said today, citing a NDRC official.

One of the main reasons for the lower-than-planned installations is the low return rate for the distributed generation (DG) solar systems, Wang Sicheng from the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) was quoted as saying. He explained that the expansion of the DG solar industry in the country is slow due to the lower power prices for residential consumers and other factors. There are also financing issues.

Early in the year, the National Energy Administration (NEA) had mentioned a national goal to install 14 GW of PV capacity in 2014, including 8 GW of DG solar. In June, however, it revised it to the more realistic 10 GW. In August it raised it again to 13 GW, based on the government’s confidence in the success of supporting policies launched in September.

China’s photovoltaic (PV) capacity grew by only 3.79 GW in the first nine months of 2014, as the country installed 1.34 GW of DG and 2.45 GW of bigger solar plants. This is far from even the lowest target for the year, but still the fourth quarter is said to be the peak season for solar and wind additions.

Looking ahead, China is aiming to increase its solar capacity five-fold to 100 GW as part of its 2016-2020 five-year plan on energy.

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