China to massively boost use of solar

Intends to increase solar power installations by 67% in 2015.

China’s goal is to reduce its heavy reliance on coal and other fossil fuels blamed for greenhouse gases and for pollution levels in Beijing that reached record hazardous levels in January.

China plans to increase its solar target to 35 gigawatts by 2015 from 21 gigawatts set in 2012. This will also help boost sales of manufactures that suffer from slowing sales in Europe.

The new target aims to increase solar power installations by more than five-fold from 6.5 gigawatts of capacity in 2012. Government sources said China will use renewable energy to reduce coal consumption and support the domestic industry.

This January, the Chinese government said it planned to install 10 gigawatts of solar capacity this year. China set aside US$2.1 billion in subsidies for domestic solar project developers in 2012.