The National Energy Administration of China has unveiled that the country’s newly added PV capacity in the first five months of 2023 was 61.2GW, while the investment in solar power projects in the same period increased by 140.3% year-on-year.
From January to May, China’s cumulative installed capacity of power generation reached about 2.67 billion kW, representing a year-on-year growth of 10.3%. Among them, the installed capacity of solar power was around 450 million kW, increasing by 38.4% year-on-year. Moreover, the installed capacity of wind power reached about 380 million kW, showing a year-on-year increase of 12.7%.
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In the first five months of this year, the newly added installed solar power capacity reached 61.2GW, with an investment of RMB98.2 billion (US$13.6 billion), showing a year-on-year growth of 140.3%.
According to previous statistics released by the National Energy Administration from January to April, the newly added PV capacity during the first four months this year was 48.3GW, indicating that the installed capacity added in May alone was nearly 13GW.
Additionally, the average utilisation of power generation equipment nationwide in the first five months of 2023 was 1,430 hours, decreasing by 32 hours year-on-year. Specifically, hydropower utilisation was 967 hours, decreasing by 294 hours year-on-year; solar power was 535 hours, decreasing by 28 hours year-on-year.
But other sources were on the rise, as wind power was 1,081 hours, up by 105 hours year-on-year. Thermal power’s utilisation was 1,765 hours, increasing by 45 hours year-on-year, while nuclear power’s utilisation reached 3,122 hours, increasing by 41 hours year-on-year.
Lastly, China’s major power generation enterprises completed an investment of RMB238.9 billion in power projects from January to May, growing by 62.5% year-on-year. Among them, the investment in solar power projects reached RMB98.2 billion, representing a year-on-year growth of 140.3%. The investment in nuclear power was RMB26.9 billion, showing a year-on-year growth of 66.5%. The investment in grid projects increased by 10.8% year-on-year to RMB140 billion.