Reuters reported that China has identified 294 solar power projects with total generating capacity of 642 megawatts in its first pilot program.
Beijing has said it will subsidies at least half of the investment cost.
As per report, the capacity will be nearly 30% more than the minimum target Beijing set in July when it launched the unprecedented "golden sun" plan which was part of China drive to catch up in a global race to find alternatives to fossil fuels.
The Ministry of Finance said these projects were expected to cost around CNY 20 billion and be ready for use in two or three years. Of the projects, 232 with total generating capacity of 290 MW will be constructed by major industrial and commercial firms and the power output would be consumed by them.
Twenty seven independent photovoltaic power generating projects, with total capacity of 46 MW will be built in remote regions that have no power supply. The projects were expected to generate enough power to meet demand for more than 300,000 residents in the regions. The remaining 35 projects, with total capacity of 306 MW, would be utility scale plants whose power output would be fed into grid networks.
The finance ministry also laid out specific price and quality requirements for parts and components in the qualified solar power projects, but it did not provide project names or where they are located.
The Ministry of Finance had said the government would subsidies 50% of investment for solar power projects as well as relevant power transmission and distribution systems that connect to grid networks, 70% of cost for independent solar projects in powerless regions.
In March, the ministry said it would provide CNY 20 per watt peak of subsidy for solar projects attached to buildings that have capacity of more than 50 kilowatt peak which could cut the power generating cost by around half to about CNY 1 per kilowatt-hour.
China is expected to raise its 2020 solar power generation target more than fivefold to at least 10 gigawatts. With incentives, analysts expect over 2 GW in new solar capacity will be installed as early as 2011 up from just over 100 MW in 2008.
(Sourced from Reuters)
