According to the Shanghai Daily, the State Council has posted a statement announcing China’s intent to bring their total solar energy capacity to more than 35 GW by the end of 2015.
By installing 10 gigawatts of new solar capacity annually, China intends to increase their solar power generation capacity fivefold by 2015.
According to the Shanghai Daily, the State Council has posted a statement announcing China’s intent to bring their total solar energy capacity to more than 35 GW by the end of 2015.
This new target is higher than the 21 GW target that was previously announced by the National Energy Administration.
The 35 GW-target will be achieved by installing 10 GW a year from 2013-2015.
The State Council will also be encouraging mergers and acquisitions in the domestic solar industry and urge banks to provide credit support for big and efficient solar panel producers. No details were given but it was said that improvements to tariff and subsidy systems for solar projects are in the works. This will allow for better investment returns for such projects.
By increasing their solar power generating capacity, China aims to shore up domestic solar panel makers that are currently struggling with over capacity. Boosting the domestic market will help these companies cut their reliance on foreign markets.
China’s solar companies have recently been the subject of trade disputes with the United States and Europe. Both U.S. and Europe have accused Chinese solar companies of dumping their products – selling them at an unfairly low rate – in their respective countries to the determent of the domestic markets.
The U.S. has already levied antidumping duties against over 50 Chinese solar companies (see related story) while the European Commission has imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on Chinese solar companies (see related story). – EcoSeed Staff
