Trade body expects China to add 90 GW of solar this year

China's national trade body for electricity has predicted the nation will install 90 GW of solar this year, according to developer Beijing Energy International.

The state-owned solar project company reported the bullish prediction reportedly made by the China Electricity Council as the developer surveyed market prospects in its annual report for 2021, published on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today.

Beijing Energy, formerly Panda Green, was reporting revenue of CNY 2.83 billion (US$441 million) from last year, up 31% from the CNY 2.15 billion recorded in 2020, for a profit of CNY 650 million, up from CNY 262 million a year earlier.

The scale of the company's solar portfolio rose dramatically, thanks to a mixture of solar farm acquisitions and its own construction projects, with the total installed generation capacity rising from 2.07 GW, at the end of 2020, to 3.84 GW and the company also branching out into wind farms.

That expansionary approach meant Beijing Energy's net debts rose from CNY 14.6 billion to CNY 26.5 billion by the end of December, with CNY 5.68 billion and $2.15 billion due within a year, from total-borrowing figures of CNY 27.8 billion and $4.45 billion, respectively.

Chairman Zhang Ping said the company would place stress on developing PV clusters in “Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, and other regions,” in line with government policy, as well as expanding its energy storage activity.