China has confirmed a formal reduction in its 2020 PV deployment target from 150GW to 110GW.
The cut was confirmed by the National Energy Administration (NEA).
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Parts of China have experienced severe curtailment of installed solar capacity owing to grid restrictions. Efforts to stimulate the distributed solar market have had mixed results at best.
A surge in connected projects on the government’s records saw a huge 22GW of capacity added to the official register in H1 2016. A consultation on a reduction to the country’s feed-in tariff was announced in September with utility-scale projects facing possible cuts of up to 31%.
Frank Haugwitz, the Beijing-based founder of solar consultancy AECEA, suggested that past experience of Chinese target-setting on solar could well mean that the 110GW is a minimum level. According to AECEA, the 2011-2015 target of 35GW was exceeded by more than 20%.
With overcapacity issues already under way potential FiT cuts coupled with reduced ambition from the Chinese government provide fresh headaches for module manufacturers in 2017.
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