China, the world’s biggest solar market, plans to subsidize 434 photovoltaic power projects with a combined capacity of almost 26 gigawatts of this year. Shares of solar equipment manufacturers gained as the announcement from the National Energy Administration boosted subsidy-eligible solar projects over the 23 gigawatts approved last year. The increase comes even as China has been pushing subsidy-free solar projects to allow such clean energy to directly compete with coal power.
The projects, located in 15 regions, include 25.6 gigawatts of utility-scale ground-mounted plants, with the rest for smaller projects at industrial and commercial sites, the NEA said in a statement dated June 23 and posted online Sunday.
The scale is “within expectations” after the nation announced earlier this year it will allocate 1 billion yuan ($141 million) of financial support for large solar projects, according to Jonathan Luan, a Beijing-based analyst at BloombergNEF. He expects China to add about 37 gigawatts of solar power in 2020, including some zero-subsidy projects and plants that were approved but not commissioned last year.