China to boost solar energy output by 2015

China intends to triple the amount of electricity generated from solar energy despite its pricey cost.

China’s National Energy Administration raised China’s solar power generating capacity target to 15GW by 2015. China previously said it would double its 2015 solar power goal to 10GW after the Japanese nuclear power crisis sparked by the tsunami in March 2011.

China’s installed solar power capacity at the end of 2010 was less than 1GW and 1.5GW by the end of November, 2011. About 3.5GW of solar capacity will be installed annually.

Premier Wen Jiabao has indirectly endorsed the increased surcharge for electricity from renewable energy sources. This surcharge, which was initially from 0.002RMB per kWh, was raised to 0.004 RMB per kWh in November 2009.

It was again increased to 0.008RMB per kWh. Another 10 billion RMB will be collected annually to subsidize the grid. In 2011, the grid paid 1RMB per kWh to purchase electricity produced from solar plants, which is higher than from fuel power plants.

Chinese solar power manufacturers, however, are facing unprecedented difficulty overseas as Europe keeps increasing its renewable energy subsidies and the US is considering various anti-dumping and anti-subsidy procedures aimed at Chinese photovoltaic products.

The production capacity from Chinese manufacturers will hit a historic high of 11.5GW, according to a forecast by the China Battery Industry Association. If export remain soft, this considerable production will have to be used inside China.

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