A few days ago, the State Energy Administration announced the construction and operation of photovoltaic power generation in the first half of 2019. By the end of June 2019, the total installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation in China had increased by 20% year-on-year, and the national photovoltaic power generation capacity had increased by 30% year-on-year by 1067.3 billion kWh. After the new subsidy policy was finalized, photovoltaic industry in China is still developing rapidly, and its market orientation is more obvious in the future.

3921 projects qualified for subsidy this year

In May this year, the State Energy Administration launched the declaration of the national subsidies bidding project for photovoltaic power generation in 2019, and announced the results of the national subsidies bidding for photovoltaic power generation projects in July. As of July 1, 4338 projects in 23 provinces (Jilin, Heilongjiang, Fujian, Hainan, Yunnan, Gansu, Xinjiang, Tibet and Xinjiang Construction Corps have not been declared) have been organized to declare national subsidies for photovoltaic power generation.

In 2019, the projects to be included in the scope of national bidding subsidy cover 22 provinces, with a total of 3921 projects. According to the state's regulations on bidding for state subsidies for photovoltaic power generation projects, the list of projects included in the scope of state subsidies is only eligible for subsidies. Whether the project can enjoy state subsidies ultimately depends on whether the grid-connected project can be completed in full capacity on schedule as required by the Notice. According to the actual situation of the implementation and construction of the project conditions, the state will do a good job of dynamic follow-up management of the list. For those with overdue capacity, the grid-connected tariff subsidy will be reduced by 0.01 yuan per kilowatt-hour per quarter; if the grid-connected power has not been completed within two quarters after the quarterly declaration of the place of commissioning, the eligibility of the project subsidy will be cancelled.

The photovoltaic industry still has tremendous room for development

Since the first photovoltaic concession project was approved in 2009, it has been ten years since then. Wang Sicheng, a researcher at the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a seminar in the first half of this year that China's photovoltaic industry has made proud achievements in the past decade. From the perspective of manufacturing industry, in 2018, China's photovoltaic industry chain products accounted for 57.8% of the global market, 89.6% of silicon wafers, 72.6% of photovoltaic cells and 72.6% of components. From the market point of view, 44.3 gigawatts (GW) were added to the domestic market in 2018, accounting for 38.5% of the global market. In terms of cost, the average price of photovoltaic components, systems and access to the Internet has dropped by more than 90% in the past 10 years. In terms of industrial scale, the annual output value is RMB 500 billion and the employment population is 2.5 million. In 2018, 9.2% of the total installed photovoltaic units and 2.5% of the total national power generation will be generated.

By consulting the information, the reporter found that in recent years, photovoltaic development has become more rational, subsidies have declined year by year, and the market orientation of the industry is obvious. In 2013, China formally implemented the benchmark grid-connected tariff policy for photovoltaic power stations in the subregion, and implemented the tariff subsidy policy for distributed photovoltaic power generation projects. In the same year, it was stipulated that in order to realize the photovoltaic parity grid access as soon as possible, the benchmark grid access price has been lowered year by year since 2013. After four years of price adjustment, benchmark electricity prices in 2018 have fallen by 38.89%, 31.58% and 25% respectively (photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects are not within the scope of price and subsidy reduction).