Feed-in tariffs (FITs) in Asia

• China
• India
• Japan
• Malaysia
• Mongolia
• Philippines
• South Korea
• Taiwan
• Thailand

China

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in China offers a 20 year FIT that divides the nation into three resource areas, each with different payment levels. The class I resource area FIT rate of RMB 0.90/kWh (US$0.15) applies in high irradiation regions such as Qinghai, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. The class II resource area rate of RMB 0.95/kWh (US$0.16) covers high irradiation regions such as Beijing, Tianjin, Sichuan and Shanxi. The class III resource area rate of RMB 1.00/kWh (US$0.16) applies in high irradiation regions such as Shanghai, Guangdong and Jiangsu. In addition, there is a new FIT for distributed generation of RMB 0.42/kWh (US$0.07), which is intended to ease the strain on the electrical grid.

Source:  Azure International

India

India has the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), which is an auction system. See the reference article for the details on recent bids.

* Forecast only

Source:Indian FIT information

Indonesia

Indonesia has a bidding system similar to that in India. The maximum feed-in tariff is US$0.25/kWh, or US$0.30/kWh for projects that utilize local components of 40% or more. Bidders that fulfil the minimum 40% local content requirement will have their bid adjusted downward by US$0.05/kWh during the competitive selection process, but will then be paid according to their initial bid. Foreign entities cannot take part in the bidding process as bidders must submit an Indonesian tax registration number, although they can partner with local firms to take part.

Sources:Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners

Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners

Japan

There is also a one-time payment for residential systems under 10kW. The grant is ¥48,000/kW, and the maximum amount payable is ¥479,520. To receive the grant, the modules used in the installation must have the J-PEC certification.

Sources:Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)

PV Magazine

Malaysia

FITs for plants below 24 kW degress 8% per year and those above 24 kW degress 20% per year as of March 2013. The bonuses for local modules and inverters do not have yearly degressions.

Sources:Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia

Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia

pv magazine article on Malaysian FIT

Mongolia

Sources:Mongolian FIT Legislation in English

Philippines

There is an incentive scheme for renewable energy generation in the Philippines, however a project can only have 40% foreign equity, making the market very hard to penetrate for foreign investors.

Sources:Cleantechnia

Baylosis and Culangen Philippine Lawyers

South Korea

South Korea's FIT system expired in 2011. It then implemented a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) scheme, which required at least 2% of each energy company's supply to come from renewable resources in 2012. This will be ramped up each year according to the below table. The Korea Electric Power Company (KEPCO) and its six subsidiaries look set to acquire most of their quotas from biomass and waste, as these look to be the most cost-effective in the short term. However, there is also an amount set aside specifically for solar PV planned until 2016.

RPS renewable energy requirements

PV installation capacity requirements

Sources:GIC on South Korean PV Industry 2011

Bloomberg on South Korean RPS

Taiwan

* This is not a true feed-in tariff as ground-mounted systems will require bidding.

Sources:Taipei Times

Solar Server

Thailand

The Thai FITs have a ground-mounted quota of 800 MW by December 2014.

Source:Energy Research Institute