Skip to content

China confirms $435m solar subsidy budget for this year

Share

From pv magazine global 

China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) yesterday confirmed RMB3 billion ($435 million) will be allocated for public solar subsidies this year, according to a report by Reuters.

The news agency yesterday reported the NEA had confirmed the details it published in a consultation document about subsidized PV project policy on April 11 would be adopted as official policy.

That draft document, which emerged during prolonged talks between the central authorities and solar industry stakeholders in Beijing, stated RMB750 million of the RMB3 billion would be allocated for rooftop projects, amounting to 3.5 GW of new capacity.

If true, confirmation of the official policy by the NEA would remove any lingering fears the RMB3 billion might have been spread over a longer period as Beijing attempts to pay down what Reuters estimates is a RMB120 billion backlog in overdue solar subsidy payments.

The subsidies will be allocated by the NEA after applicants register details with the provincial authorities, with Reuters reporting all applications must be received by July 1.

Subsidy competition

The NEA confirmed on its website yesterday that in allocating subsidies it will “regard the on-grid electricity price as an important competitive condition giving priority to the construction of projects with low subsidy intensity and [a] strong declining slope”. Consideration will also be given to the condition of the local power networks to accommodate new solar projects and the local investment environment, added the NEA.

The Reuters report stated all projects eligible for subsidies must be completed this year. If true, that would indicate a tightening up from April’s draft proposal, which allowed six months’ leniency, albeit with subsidies falling by RMB0.01 per installed kilowatt of capacity for each month’s delay.

The timing of the process may also cast doubt on China’s ability to add 40 GW of new capacity this year. Roth Capital Partners suggested in April that such a landmark could only be reached if the NEA were able to allocate and publish the details of subsidy grants by the end of next month. With applicants reportedly given until July 1 to apply, that timescale appears impossible.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.

Popular content

Battery technology promises less than ten minutes fast charge for industrial vehicles
06 December 2024 United Kingdom-headquartered battery supplier Echion Technologies has collaborated with Perth-based electric vehicle services company Switch Technolog...

Share

Leave a Reply

Please be mindful of our community standards.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.

Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.

You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.

Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.

This website uses cookies to anonymously count visitor numbers. To find out more, please see our Data Protection Policy.

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close