Weekend Read: China’s solar century
From zero to hero in 20 years, China’s PV industry has undergone an extraordinary journey. Vincent Shaw considers the reasons for the nation’s solar success and the challenges ahead.
Will China’s ‘double carbon’ and ‘dual control’ policies drive demand for solar?
Factories suffering from rationed grid electricity could help drive a boom in on-site solar systems, and recent moves to mandate the retrofitting of PV on existing buildings could also lift the market, as analyst Frank Haugwitz explains.
China’s emission-reduction action squeezes PV production
Industrial shutdowns and reduced factory production capacity levels indicate the companies producing the raw materials used by solar manufacturers are being afflicted by electricity consumption measures just as other sectors are. It is not clear whether the solar industry will be afforded any favors by Beijing, as analyst Frank Haugwitz explains.
China PV Industry Brief: 100 GW of solar for desert areas, new polysilicon production
China’s president has detailed plans to accelerate the planning and construction of large-scale wind and PV projects in desert areas, while Wuxi Shanghai announced new granular silicon and nano-silicon production capacity expansions.
China can ensure a 1.5C world – and continue to dominate the global clean energy supply chain
A report by the IEA laying out two routes for China to reach net zero attempts to persuade policymakers to gun for that goal by 2050, rather than ten years later, and dangles the prospect of continued global dominance as the main reward on offer.
Silicon metal and aluminum industries hit by China power shortages
A combination of booming demand for coal-fired power and a shortage of the black stuff – exacerbated by a political row with Australia – have forced up prices to the extent fossil fuel generators are making a loss on every unit of electricity they produce. pv magazine‘s Vincent Shaw considers the potential solutions.
Hero Future Energies secures India’s first deal for large scale solar in Bangladesh
The Haryana-based renewables company, which is part of a bike and motorbike manufacturing conglomerate, will be paid $0.1025/kWh by the Bangladeshi government for the electricity that will be generated by a 50 MW plant in Khulna district, with the power purchase deal running for 20 years.
China opens ‘world’s biggest carbon market’
With the nation having operated seven pilot programs since 2011, a national scheme started trading on Friday, although the first day’s average carbon price of around €6.70 per ton of emissions was significantly below the €50/ton levels currently being seen in Europe.
China mandates energy storage as it sets 16.5% solar and wind target for 2025
The National Energy Administration has ordered grid companies to supply enough network connection points for all the solar and wind projects registered in 2019 and 2020, and said variable renewables should be supplying 11% of the nation’s electricity by the end of the year.
The world won’t wait – Biden needs to catch up
The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States has brought hope the country will play a central role in the world’s energy transition and combating climate change. However, rather than teaching other countries lessons, the U.S. will need to catch up with the rest of the world, and it needs to do so quickly – the world won’t wait for the U.S.
