L R AS Published on Saturday 4 April 2020 - n° 316 - Categories:China
Few installations in China in the first two months
The city of Yulin, in China's Shaanxi province, has abruptly halted all solar development this year, including ongoing projects to build a capacity
of around one gigawatt, according to AECEA, the German solar research organisation based in China. Grid capacity and land constraints are believed to be behind Yulin's decision to cancel an estimated 5 GW of new solar capacity this year.
Solar exports in the first two months reflect the continued consolidation of the PV manufacturing market. Foreign sales of panels were up 3% in January over January 2019 and down 0.5% in February over February 2019. Cell sales doubled (+133% and +115%).
The authorities intend to strengthen the efficiency and quality of projects, rather than relying on the simple volume of production capacity.
In 2019, China increased its solar installations by 30.1 GW (down 32% on 2018). Of this figure, 12.2 GW (-41%) are small-scale installations, of which 5.3 GW are residential, and 17.9 GW are large-scale plants (-23%). The 2019 installations bring the installed solar capacity in China to 204 GW (+17% over 2018), including 142 GW of large power plants. The new additions have brought solar power to "nearly 10%" of China's total electricity generation capacity. The volume of solar electricity produced - 224 TWh - represented only 3.1% of China's production last year.
Some regions are unable to evacuate the energy produced. Tibet, for example, was unable to evacuate 24% of its production.
Of the 15 GW allocated under the grid parity in 2019, only 2 GW have actually been built. Less than half, 10 GW out of 22.8 GW of capacity supported by a feed-in tariff, have been connected to the grid. Administrative, managerial, technical and financial obstacles are the causes of these disappointing results.
China announced 4 GW of new solar installations in the first two months but the AECEA estimates that only 1 GW was completed.
The AECEA estimates that the epidemic will delay the completion of projects for up to six months. It has therefore lowered its expectations for this year from 34.5-37.5 GW to 23-31 GW.
PV Magazine of1 April
