2016-05-23

China CEO Sees Solar Competitive With Coal By 2025

Bloomberg: China’s Solar Prices Can Fall 38%, Become Competitive With Coal
“It’s possible” to allow prices to be cut to 0.5 yuan (U.S. 8 cents) a kilowatt-hour in four years, the world’s biggest panel maker Trina Solar Ltd. said in an e-mail citing chairman Gao Jifan. This year developers got at least 0.8 yuan a kilowatt-hour for photovoltaic power generated for approved projects.
China surpassed Germany last year as the nation with the most installed solar-power capacity, in the process making renewable energy more competitive by driving down costs. Solar power in China soared more than seven fold since 2012 as the country sought to boost use of solar panels to cut carbon emissions and boost home home consumption of renewable power.

...Rapid installations have left grids struggling to absorb the influx of renewable power plants, reducing profits of developers. About 52 percent of solar power sat unused in the first quarter in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang, marking the highest idle rate in the nation, according to data from National Energy Administration, which said Gansu province has the second-highest amount of idle capacity.

...“The industry is able to take the challenge” of such a decline in power prices as long as the government puts its planned policies into practice, said Shawn Qu, chief executive officer of Canadian Solar Inc. “The industry isn’t afraid of the challenge but uncertainties and unpredictability” that are brought about by policies, he said.

The cost of generating power from solar plants will be able to compete with those of burning coal power by 2025 around the globe, Canadian Solar’s CEO said.

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