Solar power capacity in China, already the world’s largest market, will jump more than fourfold by 2020, according to a senior official cited on Oct. 13 by the government’s official news agency.
Solar capacity in China will reach 150 GW in five years, up from 35.8 GW at the end of June, Dong Xiufen, director of new energy for the National Energy Administration, told the Xinhua news agency. The government’s goal is to boost photovoltaic-power capacity by 20 GW annually from 2016 to 2020, according to Xinhua’s report.
The increase would come amid signs of an economic slowdown in China and would require growth above what analysts have predicted. Bloomberg New Energy Finance in August forecast 17.5 GW of solar power would be installed this year, up 35 percent from 13 GW in 2014.
China will also continue to push mergers and acquisitions among domestic solar companies as well as technological advances, Huai Jinpeng, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said in the Xinhua report. He said further efforts are needed in research and development and company financing.
©2015 Bloomberg News
Lead image: Solar energy in China. Credit: Shutterstock.
