Source:asia.nikkei.com
China saw robust growth in newly installed solar power capacity and exports of photovoltaic modules in the first quarter as supply chain prices continued to fall and strong demand from home and abroad, especially Europe, bolstered shipments.
In the three months through March, China added 33.66 gigawatts of grid-connected installed solar power capacity, representing an increase of 155% year-on-year, data from the National Energy Administration (NEA) showed.
The strong quarterly growth could largely be attributed to a drop in supply chain prices caused by the gradual ramping up of production capacity of photovoltaic silicon, the raw material used to make solar panels, as well as the falling price of modules, analysts said.
The average price of photovoltaic modules in China has now dropped to 1.7 yuan (24.6 U.S. cents) per watt from 2 yuan per watt in 2022, leading to an increase in investment in the industry, with the country's five largest electricity generators likely to sharpen their focus on building centralized photovoltaic power generation projects, a person from a module maker told Caixin.
Of all the newly added installed solar power capacity in the first quarter, nearly 54% was contributed by distributed photovoltaic power generation facilities, compared with 67% in the same quarter of last year, according to the NEA data. The remaining 46% came from centralized photovoltaic power generation stations, up from 33% a year ago.
Distributed photovoltaic power generation is used to provide power locally where it is needed -- often from rooftop panels -- rather than transmitting from solar farms over the grid to other areas.
With the centralized model, large-scale plants concentrate on producing substantial amounts of electricity, which is fed into the grid and distributed to consumers who may live further afield.
During the January-to-March period, Henan province added 3.3 GW of grid-connected installed solar power capacity, ranking first among the country's provinces and municipalities, followed by Hubei with 2.84 GW and Shandong with 2.81 GW, according to the NEA data.
In terms of distributed photovoltaic power generation, Henan province took the first spot with 3.19 GW, while for centralized photovoltaic power generation, Hubei came in first with 2.28 GW, according to the NEA data.
Europe key driver
In the first three months, China exported photovoltaic modules capable of generating 50.9 GW of electricity, up 37% year-on-year, according to data from industry consultancy InfoLink Consulting.
The growth was largely driven by strong demand from Europe, which in the first quarter imported Chinese-made photovoltaic modules capable of producing 29.5 GW of electricity, an increase of 77% year-on-year, according to InfoLink.