Page 14 - AsiaElec Week 47 2021

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SOL AR developers.” expects solar equipment prices to drop in
Chinese renewable developers tend to have 2022, driving global installations to surge
China’s slow solar growth big year-end jumps in installations in order from about 150GW this year to as much as
220 next year, Morgan Stanley said in the note.
to meet annual targets or subsidy deadlines.
means surge is needed to Last year the country installed 22.3GW in
December, nearly half of the annual total,
hit forecast according to China Electricity Council data. COAL
That may not be the case this year,
The world’s biggest solar market will need however. The government no longer offers
a year-end installation rush to meet growth subsidies for most utility-scale solar plants, China cancels proposed
targets as cost inflation slows development, and the quota for rooftop solar subsidies
Bloomberg reported. had already nearly been met by the end of 3GW coal plant in the
China added about 29.3GW of solar in October.
the first 10 months of the year, the National Longi Green Energy Technology Co., the Limpopo MM-SEZ
Energy Administration said last week. That’s world’s biggest manufacturer of solar panel
well short of the annual forecast of 55 to equipment, cut its estimate for 2021 solar The Government of the People’s Republic
65GW set by the China Photovoltaic Industry installations in China from 55GW to 40 to of China has confirmed in correspondence
Association earlier in 2021. 45GW because high prices are significantly with Fossil Free South Africa that China will
The slower-than-expected growth comes impacting demand, Morgan Stanley analysts no longer be funding a new 3GW coal-fired
after cost inflation hit the solar supply chain, including Simon Lee said in a note Friday. It power plant in the planned Musina-Makhado
with the the price of solar panels rising for also lowered its guidance for fourth-quarter Special Economic Zone (MM-SEZ) in
the first time in eight years. That’s caused shipments, the bank said after hosting a Limpopo Province.
project delays even after China’s state- virtual summit. Chinese premier Xi Jinping announced
owned power giants announced ambitious Solar module costs have risen about 28% China’s end to funding of overseas coal
renewable goals in the first year following this year, driven by skyrocketing prices for projects in an address at the United Nations
President Xi Jinping’s landmark 2060 net-zero polysilicon, the ultra-conductive material on 21 September.
announcement. they’re made of. As demand slows, inventories V arious Chinese institutions have been
“Some projects didn’t start construction held by Longi and its competitors, including linked to the contested MM-SEZ project,
on time, and could be postponed to next JA Solar Technology Co. and Trina Solar Co., which was first announced by President
year, due to high equipment costs and low had nearly doubled by the end of the third Cyril Ramaphosa on his return from the
profitability rates,” said Lin Wang, a Beijing- quarter compared with the previous year, Forum for Africa and China Cooperation
based analyst at BloombergNEF. “There’s a according to company filings. (FOCAC) in September 2018. The two biggest
low operation rate in both manufacturers and The slowdown likely won’t last long. Longi lead investors, China Huadian Hong Kong

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