NEA says China installed 78.42 GW solar PV capacity in H1/2023; Fujian Longking investing in solar plant in Xinjiang; Zhengye New Energy brings online 1 GW module line; DAH Solar to invest RMB 5 billion in 7 GW vertically integrated project.
China’s solar capacity growing stronger: According to the National Energy Administration (NEA), China installed 78.42 GW new solar PV capacity during H1/2023, representing an annual growth of around 154% or 47.54 GW. During the same period last year, the NEA reported 30.88 GW PV additions (see China Installed 31 GW Solar PV In H1/2022). The H1/2023 additions include 17.21 GW in June 2023, which means installations are on the rise again after the country added less than 15 GW per month in the last 3 months at least. NEA counts China’s total installed solar PV capacity till June 2023 to have reached 470.67 GW, an annual jump of 39.8%. Wind power increased by 13.7% YoY to 390 GW. Taking into consideration that China installed in total 94.7 GW solar capacity in 2022, it has reached already 83% of that level in the first 6 months of 2023.
300 MW solar project in Xinjiang: Fujian Longking Environmental Protection has announced plans to invest in a 300 MW solar PV power project in Xinjiang’s Wuquia County in Kezhou. This is phase I of a 1 GW solar plant the company has received authorization for. Another 300 MW is planned for phase II and 400 MW under phase III. The company expects an investment of about RMB 1.075 billion on construction of phase I. With this, Longking said it is venturing into utility scale solar PV power generation business.
1 GW module fab online: Zhengye New Energy’s (ZY Solar) 1 GW solar module production line successfully produced the 1st panel, marking successful completion, installation and commissioning of the manufacturing project. Management said the company’s plan is to invest RMB 5 billion to build an 8 GW heterojunction (HJT) cell and 5 GW high efficiency PV module production base. Under phase I, it will invest RMB 1 billion to bring online 1 GW HJT cells and 2 GW high efficiency modules. It will be followed by ‘pre-constructed’ 4 GW HJT cells and 3 GW module capacity and ‘pre-constructed’ 3 GW cell capacity under phase III. Once the 8 GW cell and 5 GW module capacity is online, ZY Solar expects it to produce an annual output worth RMB 16 billion.
New 7 GW vertical manufacturing project: DAH Solar has signed an agreement with the Jinzhong Development Zone to build a 7 GW strong solar PV vertically integrated project in Shaanxi region. According to local media reports, the RMB 5 billion project will include 7 GW monocrystalline rods, 7 GW silicon wafers, 7 GW high efficiency cells and 7 GW solar modules production capacity.
