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That growth rate was second only to The project, contracted by the 12th Bureau “disappointing,” partly because the capacity
China’s 11.5% expansion in LNG imports in of Hydropower in China, is believed to be the allocations fell below expectations. The
2020. world’s largest solar installation to be built on procurement exercises also attracted a low
a tidal flat, spanning more than 4,500 acres. number of international developers.
It will combine more than 685,000 400W However, the International Renewable
monocrystalline silicon modules with 1500V Energy Agency (IRENA) says that the
COAL string inverters provided by Solis, while a new industry should not see the outcomes of the
220kV booster station has been built for the auctions as completely negative.
Chinese coal imports site. Power generated at the site is converted necessarily tarnish an auction’s success,” it
“Relatively high auction prices do not
into AC and then boosted to 35kV within the
recover substation, before being exported to the grid. said in its new “Renewable energy auctions
in Japan: Context, design and results” report.
Given its location on a tidal flat, the entire
China’s coal imports recovered in December solution has been optimised and protected “The average awarded prices were close to the
as local demand for the fuel increased from the elements it will face, including cost of electricity for solar PV power in Japan,
throughout the ruthless early winter. waterproofing, sandproofing, corrosion underscoring the price discovery attributes of
Statistics from the General Administration prevention and other structure and internal auctions.”
of Customs revealed that coal arrivals hit electrical arrangements. Final average prices dropped around 35%
39.08mn tonnes last month, increased 234.8 Inverters were also installed at a height of from JPY 19.64 ($0.189)/kWh in the first
percent from a month earlier and increasing at least five metres – greater than the usual auction in late 2017 to JPY 12.57 ($0.121)/
from only 2.77mn tonnes in December in height – in order to accommodate tidal kWh in the exercise that was finalised in
2019. fluctuations of the water level. January 2020. However, compared to global
Driven by augmenting coal imports in Those tidal fluctuations also made the average prices, which IRENA pegged at
December, China’s full-year coal purchases construction process more difficult, the site around $0.058/kWh in 2018, prices in Japan
were up 1.49 percent year on year to manager said, reducing the amount of time are still too high.
303.99mn tonnes in 2020, marking the fifth available to build each day. Investments were Japan has only allocated 574 MW of solar
straight year of expansion, according to the made to increase the number of workers in the auctions, even though the Ministry of
statistics. on-site each day during available hours to Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has
construct the first phase of the project on sought to assign 1,663 MW. On one occasion,
time. in the September 2018 auction, no capacity
was awarded, as the bids were all above the
SOL AR ceiling price.
“The challenge in solar PV auctions has
300MW tidal flat solar SOL AR mainly been in retaining qualified bidders,
as many dropped out during the process,”
project takes shape in IRENA says Japan PV IRENA said. “Developers indicated that
constraints regarding grid connection
China auctions not a failure and land availability, as well as strict bond
confiscation rules in the first round, reduced
The first tranches of a 300MW utility-scale The five solar energy auctions held by the their interest in placing bids.”
solar project built on a coastal tidal flat in Japanese government between 2017 and
China have been connected to the grid. January 2020 have been widely described as

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