China

The Dutch science-based company has announced plans to expand its product portfolio for solar, with the acquisition of China based Suzhou SunShine New Materials Technology (Sunshine), a manufacturer of PV backsheets.

The solar investment group’s cumulative installed capacity in the country hit 1.15GW at the end of December, up from 950.3 MW in late June 2016, according to a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The company’s Phase 3A facility in China’s Xinjiang is now up and running, and should reach full production capacity of 18,000 metric tons of polysilicon the first quarter of the year.

European Commission VP Frans Timmermans says new 18 month tariff period proposal will be put to the 28 EU Member States later this month. SolarPower Europe says move goes in right direction, but could go further.

Sharp uptick in polysilicon imports into China between October and November last year point to repeat of 2016’s first-half solar surge, suggests analysis by Bernreuter Research.

According to Reuters, China will launch trading of certificates for solar and wind power from July 1st 2017, in a bid to reduce government subsidies going to the renewables sector. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced the trading program on Friday.

The Chinese company today announced the commercial operation of two PV power plants in Japan, totalling 12.7 MW.

Asia Clean Capital (ACC) has a signed a power purchase agreement with Wahaha Group for a 3.5 MW commercial PV project. The capacity will be developed at 2 sites in Quzhou, Zhejiang province.

It’s back to business as usual for solar in the second week of January. After a brief new year’s rest, the global industry is hitting 2017 at full speed and already showing the beginnings of another action packed year.

The aggregate volume of electricity generated by the Hong Kong-listed group’s solar plants reached 342.8 GWh in the final three months of 2016, up from 254.9 GWh a year earlier.