Chinese photovoltaics reach US levels

Falling module and balance of system prices have improved photovoltaic project internal rates of return and led to an explosion in project development activities in China.

According to the recently released Solarbuzz China Deal Tracker report, the non-residential PV project pipeline in China grew to 16 GW at the end of October.

The company has identified 1104 non-residential projects in China that are installed, being installed or in development. Projects in the pipeline are in 29 Chinese provinces. Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia are the leading provinces in megawatt terms, followed by Sichuan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shaanxi, Tibet and Anhui.

These provinces represent 86% of the total pipeline.

According to the report, 195 projects, with a total capacity of over 1.8 GW, will be installed within 2011. That installed capacity in China will closely match the installed capacity in the US this year. Stimulated by the Qinghai 930 program as well as unified national feed-in tariff policy, 54% of the capacity in megawatt terms will be in the north-west region.

The top seven project developer groups account for nearly 1 GW of PV demand in 2011, including state-owned enterprises China Power Investment Corporation, China Guodian Corporation, China Huadian Corporation, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Corporation and China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group. The CHINT Group is the only private enterprise among the top seven developers.