Chinese govt invests USD 2bn in solar projects in 2012

Dec 12, 2012 - The Chinese government has earmarked a total CNY 13 billion (USD 2.1bn/EUR 1.6bn) for domestic solar power demonstration installations in 2012, Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday, citing data from the Ministry of Finance.

The funds will subsidise new photovoltaic (PV) projects with total capacity of 5.2 GW.

As part of the second round of funding for the year, which is for a total CNY 7 billion, 149 demonstration projects with a capacity of over 10 MW each will be developed. Their combined capacity is 2,550 MW, or 92% of the total scale of the round, according to the ministry data.

This time, the government is investing in solar installations mainly located on islands or in remote areas without power which are expected to supply 280,000 homes without electricity. The projects are due to be completed by next June.

In addition, there will be an incentive of CNY 5.5 per watt for projects that will generate power for their own developers. The subsidies for residential installations and independent PV systems are being raised to CNY 18 per watt and CNY 25 per watt, respectively, the data showed.

(CNY 10.0 = USD 1.600/EUR 1.229)

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