2 x 500 MW PV Projects Online In China In December

• Two solar power projects with 500 MW capacity each were commissioned in China's Qinghai province in December 2018, according to Xinhua
• One of the projects in Golmud city was connected to the grid by Three Gorges Group and Sunshine Power in Golmud city
• The Golmud project will sell clean power for a tariff of CNY 0.325 ($0.047) per kWh, lower than the benchmark price of electricity generated by coal-fired power plants
• Another 500 MW project came online in Delingha province
• Both these projects will be directly managed by the NEA

Two solar PV power projects with 500 MW individual capacity were connected to the grid in China's Qinghai province on December 29, 2018. Both the projects will be directly managed by the country's National Energy Administration (NEA).

The Chinese government's news agency Xinhua reported that these projects are located in Delingha and Golmud cities in the Mongolian-Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Haixi. The Top Runner program demonstration projects were developed as part of the government's Poverty Alleviation Scheme.

The Golmud project will sell clean power for CNY 0.316 ($0.046) per kWh, lower than the CNY 0.325 ($0.047) per kWh benchmark price of electricity generated by coal-fired power plants, according to Xinhua that calls this level 'unprecedented nationwide for solar power plants'.

China's Three Gorges Group built the Golmud project along with Sunshine Power Co., Ltd. for an investment of over CNY 2.1 billion ($305 million) and connected it to the grid within 4 months. It is expected to generate 1 billion kWh of clean energy annually.

Xinhua said together, both these facilities will generate around 1.5 billion kWh of solar power annually.