China To More Than Double Solar-Power Capacity In 2013
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China, the world’s largest energy consumer, intends to add an additional 10 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar power capacity to its present energy supply by the end of 2013, said a statement on the National Energy Administration on Tuesday, providing a much needed boost for domestic solar manufacturers, who have suffered heavy losses over the last year due to sliding foreign demand.
China, the world’s largest energy consumer, intends to add an additional 10 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar power capacity to its present energy supply by the end of 2013, said a statement on the National Energy Administration on Tuesday, providing a much needed boost for domestic solar manufacturers, who have suffered heavy losses over the last year due to sliding foreign demand.
According to an industry insider, speaking to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, high-ranking Chinese government officials had been organising closed-door meetings with photovoltaic (PV) energy plants since last November, when both the U.S. and Europe launched anti-dumping measures on Chinese solar power products in retaliation to a global overcapacity in solar panels.
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The Wall Street Journal also reported that Chinese solar companies had accumulated heavy debt between 2009 and 2011 to fund their capacity expansion, but the market downturn left them struggling to make interest payments, with support from local banks and local governments needed to carry the weight of the debt.
Accordingly, the Chinese government now appears to be fast-tracking and expanding its energy targets, particularly for solar power, where installed solar power capacity is expected to grow to 40 GW by 2015, instead of the current 21 GW target.
At the end of 2012, China already had 7 GW of installed solar power capacity. By adding an additional 10GW, China would be just 4 GW short of its stated 2015 target, two years ahead of schedule.
“We believe that it is no coincidence that China is aggressively expanding its solar installation goals at a time when its manufacturers are struggling to stay alive,” said Shyam Mehta, an analyst at clean-energy market-research firm GTM Research, in a research note cited by WSJ.
[quote]”While our current base case forecast already anticipates cumulative installations of 22 [gigawatts] by 2014, there is a definite possibility that demand in China in 2013 and 2014 ramps up even faster than that due to continued downstream support for ailing manufacturers,” Mehta wrote.[/quote]Related: China To Spend $372 Billion On Green Projects
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Share prices of several local solar companies also rose in the wake of the government announcement. Trina Solar Ltd and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co for instance saw a 7 percent in stock value in Wednesday morning trading, according to Reuters; while those of JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd climbed 6 percent.
The China Daily reports that the government also plans to add 21 GW of hydroelectric generation capacity and 18 GW of wind power generation capacity in 2013, signifying the nation’s push towards renewable energy sources, as part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions by 17 percent between 2011 and 2015.
