At USD 722 million (EUR 612m) in March monthly purchases of Chinese photovoltaic (PV) equipment by non-OECD countries reached their highest point since January 2015, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) says.
The company's 3Q Frontier Power Market Outlook, published Monday, shows that India is the main importer of such products. Its solar imports from China amounted to USD 508 million in March, USD 464 million in February and USD 296 million in January.
In total, USD 1.8 billion of China’s exports of solar PV equipment went to developing countries in the first quarter (Q1) of the year. South Asia accounted for a huge portion of that, while notable amounts also went to Latin America and the Caribbean, where imports jumped to USD 215 million in Q1 2017 from USD 71 million in Q1 2016.
AFRICA
BNEF explains that China and India are also active investors in renewable energy and rural electrification projects in Africa. They see huge opportunities for component exports to the continent and, since April, governments and state-owned banks in China and India have announced USD 189 million in loans for African projects.
According to the report, Chinese suppliers dominate the African market for diesel generators and solar panels. For now the active players are often relatively small private companies, but BNEF believes that more focused efforts by the Indian and Chinese governments and state-owned companies could result in the realisation of larger projects. These could compete with development initiatives by Western governments in Africa.
CHANGES
BNEF said that sales of diesel generators smaller than 375 kVA in Africa and the Middle East have dropped by a quarter in 2016. The 25% decline cannot be explained by competition from renewables, which for now is too weak, but it is a fact that the market for micro-grids and hybrid generation in emerging economies is expanding. "[..] policy-makers and project developers are growing more comfortable with the role that micro-grids and stand-alone solar kits play in serving remote regions," said BNEF.
The report is available for download here: https://about.bnef.com/blog/3q-2017-frontier-power-market-outlook/.
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Image taken from BNEF report. All rights reserved.
