NEF and CREIA jointly release “China’s Top Ten Renewable Energy Developments in 2007
On 21 March 2008, New Energy Finance Ltd and the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA) have jointly released the “China’s Top Ten Renewable Energy Developments in 2007” at the CREIA’s annual meeting in Beijing. These developments include:
1. China releases the Medium to Long-term Development Plan for Renewable Energy, setting national targets for all major renewable energy sectors for 2010 and 2020 respectively.
2. China implements a detailed plan to compensate grid companies for the extra cost of purchasing renewable power via a quota exchange system.
3. China has reformed the bidding system for the fifth round national concession wind projects to discourage cutthroat price competition. Project developers who field bids closest to the average bid now score highest in the price evaluation section. On a provincial level, Guangdong becomes the first province in China to set a fixed feed-in tariff for wind power at CNY 0.68 ($0.09588) per kWh.
4. PV cell production in China (not including Taiwan Province) exceeds the US in 2007, becoming third in the world behind Japan and Germany.
5. China makes a breakthrough in installations of domestically manufactured wind turbines in 2007. Wind turbines from domestic manufacturers account for 56% of all installed turbines in China in 2007, exceeding those made by foreign and joint-venture companies for the first time.
6. China’s first thousand-tonne polysilicon plant is commissioned in Leshan, Sichuan province, marking the beginning of the scale-up production of this raw material in the country.
7. Installed wind capacity in China reaches 6GW at the end of 2007. One quarter of this or 1.5GW is installed in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, making it China’s first province/region to have more than 1GW installed.
8. China kicks off development of grid-connected utility scale PV projects with the NDRC implementing a plan to build 5MW and larger solar PV plants in 8 provinces in western China.
9. Jinan, in Shandong province, hosts the first central government sponsored National Solar Heat Utilisation Congress in China, which aims to popularise the installation of solar water heaters in buildings across the country.
10. China halts the approval of new grain-based bioethanol projects and enacts policies to encourage non-grain based biofuels development.
Junfeng Li, Secretary General of CREIA, said: “China has become one of the world’s most important markets in renewable energy and a leading user of certain renewable energy applications. In 2007, China invested around $10bn in renewable energy, making it second in the world. Most of these investments have gone to mini-hydro, solar water heating, and wind power projects. Meanwhile, around $6bn to $10bn has also been invested for large hydropower annually. Currently, renewable energy accounts for 8.5% of China’s primary energy supply and 16% of its electricity supply. By 2020, these are expected to reach 15% and 21% respectively, or even higher. The selection and publication of these key developments will help the public better understand important trends and developments in China’s renewable energy industry and market both at home and abroad.”
Michael Liebreich, Chairman and CEO of NEF, said: “It has been another year of impressive developments for the Chinese renewable energy industry. Our top ten developments include legislative, industrial and technical advances, and they cover all the major sectors of the renewable energy industry. China is the fulcrum on which the world's climate future is balanced, so it is quite a relief to see such continued strong progress. We should expect to see China take the lead in more and more sectors of the renewable energy industry in the next few years, particularly if the current credit market woes in Europe and the US result in any slow-down whatsoever in the rate of investment."
