Chinese PV Industry Brief: Power rationing affects solar module production

China's National Energy Administration (NEA) said new solar installations hit 37.73 GW between January and the end of July, bringing total cumulative installations to 343.51 GW. The figures indicate that in July alone, the world’s largest solar market installed 6.85 GW of new solar capacity. NEA said that total investments in solar reached CNY 77.3 billion ($11.3 billion) in the first seven months of 2022, up 304% year on year.

JinkoSolar has revealed that its manufacturing operations in Sichuan province have been affected by power rationing imposed by the provincial government. The province is suffering power shortages due to ongoing high temperatures and drought, forcing some solar companies to suspend production. Last week, the provincial government urged 19 of 21 cities to suspend all industrial production for six days to save power for normal living consumption. JinkoSolar said it is unsure how long power rationing will continue, as drought is having a negative impact on hydropower generation.

China Shuifa Singyes Energy said this week that it has “temporarily squeezed” its solar engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) business in favor of its wind farms, due to rising solar project costs. Solar EPC revenue rose from CNY 60.6 million in the first half of last year to CNY 103 million in the January-June period. The state-run renewables developer posted CNY 2.97 billion of revenue in the first half.

Shunfeng International Clean Energy warned this week that it expects to record a first-half net loss of CNY 200 million, from just CNY 38.9 million during the same period a year earlier. It largely attributed this to net foreign-exchange losses of CNY 110 million.

Golden Solar has specified just how much the 54 million share options it issued in January will affect its performance. Earlier this month, the company warned that losses of CNY 3.84 million recorded in the first six months of last year would widen, largely thanks to expected amortization costs of CNY 77.8 million associated with the share options. The solar production equipment supplier said last week that it expects first-half net losses of between CNY 100 million and CNY 110 million.

TCL Electronics said last week that its small-scale solar operation generated a gross profit of HKD 14.2 million ($1.81 million) from first-half revenues of HKD 172 million, despite only starting up in the second quarter. Its parent company recorded net first-half profits of HKD 293 million.