Photovoltaic industry powering ahead

However, the subsidies only cover part of the costs, according to Jiang Liping, deputy director of the Energy Research Institute, which is affiliated with State Grid.

More costs may occur as local governments start to tax the land for the projects, and getting the limited approvals is becoming expensive.

Most developers are State-owned power companies, such as China Huaneng Group, China Huadian Corp, Datang International Power Generation Co, and China Power Investment Corp.

A few private developers such as Hanergy and Astronergy are also involved in the business.

For now, the issues do not seem urgent as installed capacity is still limited, but they might hamper the development of the solar sector in the future.

Solar power integration could become a more serious issue that it was for the wind power industry when applications scale up because solar power requires more flexible technology, according to Bai Jianhua, chief economist of the Energy Research Institute.

Another 35 gW of solar projects are in the pipeline, according to Solarbuzz's estimate.

But China wants solar power to be a real alternative to traditional power plants by 2015, which means that the price of solar power can be comparable to traditional power sources.

And despite a recent adjustment in renewable energy policies, the country is still committed to develop clean energy, with unprecedented investment flowing into the sector.

In the second quarter of the year, the country led clean energy investment with $18.3 billion, a 92 percent increase compared to the first quarter of last year. The largest Chinese PV project financed recently was the Shanlu & Shengyu Bayannur Wuyuan plant, with $316 million, Chinese media reported.

liuyiyu@chinadaily.com.cn

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