Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 5.5
Locations of China's solar power generation
Technological
classification
Planned objectives by
2020(million kilowatts) Key regions
1. Solar thermal power
generation
23
Concentrating solar
power
3
Areas with well solar condition, wide
available land and ample water conditions
etc.
PV power station
20
Qinghai, Gansu, Zinjiang, Inner Mogolia,
Lhasa, Dunhuang, and Ordos, etc.
2. Distributed
photovoltaic power
generation system
27 Middle-East area, with urban industrial
parks, economic developed zones, large
public facilities etc.
Source: “Solar Power Development in the 12th Five-Year Plan”
Remote areas with independent power generation could reach 150,000 kW and
solar thermal power generation of 50,000 kW in areas with intensified solar
radiation.
The table above indicates the key regions of China's solar power generation.
With decreasing costs, solar power generation could become a leading sector in the
low-carbon economy (Table
5.5
).
The domestic PV market is developing mainly through preferential policies.
The Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development
issued “Implementing Opinion Concerning Speeding up the Promotion of the Use
of Solar Energy PV Power in Buildings” report on March 23, 2010 that offers
conditional subsidies up to 20 RMB per watt for selected PV power generation
projects.
The Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National
Energy Board announced on July 21, 2009 the launching of the “Golden Sun
Demonstration Project” in China.
The project adopts financial assistance, technological support and market-driven
approaches to accelerate industrialization and production for domestic PV power
generation and demonstration projects with no less than 500 MW.
A gradual decrease of prices of photovoltaic electricity along with a rise increase
of traditional energy prices would benefit the PV power sector and boost growth.
5.1.5.3 Problems of Solar Power Generation
High costs stand as the greatest obstacle for the solar sector. However, domestic
solar PV power generation costs have dropped and expected to fall further than that
of conventional power generation or wind power.
Electricity prices generated by solar PV power system is 4-5 times higher than
thermal power, 2-3 times higher than wind-power. Solar power is about 5 times the
price of conventional thermal power [
18
].
