China Boosts Solar Power Goals

China is aiming for an installed solar power capacity of 2 gigawatts by 2011, nearly 15 times the 140 megawatt capacity it had at the end of 2008.

According to a recent report on China Daily, China is aiming for an installed solar power capacity of 2 gigawatts by 2011,  nearly 15 times the 140 megawatt capacity it had at the end of 2008.

To spur on uptake, China is considering further enhancing incentives. It already has a subsidy in place of of 20 yuan per watt (around AUD 3.67)  for solar panel based systems larger than 50 kW fixed on building roofs. This rebate level covers approximately 50% of the cost of such systems.

Additionally, a feed in tariff of approximately AUD 0.20 cents per kilowatt hour will be implemented, although local industry experts believe it should be pegged between 24 and 27 cents to be profitable to large scale producers and to develop the domestic home solar power market faster.

The revised targets will provide a great boost to local solar panel producers such as Suntech, Solarfun and Yingli

Also reported via China Daily,  officials say the government plans to generate at least 15 percent of its energy capacity from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources by 2020. Renewable energy is expected to account for 10 percent of the country’s energy resources by 2010 and could possibly even exceed the 2020 goal, reaching 18 – 20% by that year.

Deputy director of the National Energy Administration, Liu Qi, said his department is working on new energy policies, with the first phase involving  investment opportunities worth as much as 3 trillion yuan (AUD $555 billion) for nuclear, solar, wind, biomass power and clean coal technologies.

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