- Official NEA data shows China to have installed 87.41 GW of new solar PV capacity in 2022
- The 63% annual increase in deployments helped grow its cumulative capacity to 390 GW
- China is expected to have brought in around 35 GW new capacity within Q4/2022
The National Energy Administration (NEA) of China has announced China to have installed 87.41 GW of new solar PV capacity in 2022, increasing the country’s cumulative deployed capacity by 28.1% annually to 390 GW.
New solar PV capacity installed by the country in 2022 went up by 60.3% since 2021 when China deployed 53 GW (see China Added 53 GW Record Solar Volume In 2021).
While the NEA does not specify the individual share of various PV segments that contributed to the 87 GW capacity last year, it did count 52.6 GW to have come online during 9M/2022, which would mean in Q4/2022 the world’s largest solar market added 34.8 GW (see 9M/2022 Chinese Solar Installations Grew 100%+ Annually).
These official 2022 annual numbers for China are way less than predicted by BloombergNEF’s 126 GW (out of 268 GW global) during TaiyangNews High Efficiency Solar Technologies Conference in November 2022 (see Positive Outlook on Solar Demand & Technology Developments At TaiyangNews Event).
Rethink Energy’s estimate of 97 GW (out of 222 GW global total for 2022) was closer but still off by over 6 GW (see Rethink Energy Expects 222 GW Global Solar Installations In 2022).
Bullish predictions for China have not come true as the market faced COVID-19 control measures that included cities under strict lockdowns, affecting logistical movement of goods. Even high polysilicon prices with low supply last year pushed up module prices, hence the demand was likely muted.
Nonetheless, actual capacity does fall within the range of 80 GW to 90 GW offered by Asia Europe Clean Energy (Solar) Advisory with a 63% annual growth, and 75 GW to 90 GW forecast by local industry alliance China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA). The latter also predicted China’s annual solar additions to grow between 83 GW to 99 GW from 2022 to 2025 (see Up To 90 GW New Solar In China In 2022).
In comparison, wind energy additions in 2022 in China dropped 21% to 37.63 GW with a cumulative reaching 370 GW, out of a total 2.56 TW aggregate power generation capacity of the country at the end of 2022.
