China Installed 24.3 GW PV In H1/2018

• China's NEA has shared the world's largest solar market installed 24.3 GW new PV capacity in^ H1/2018
• Of the total installed during the first six months of the year, large-scale PV was over 12 GW
• Distributed PV grew by a strong 72% YoY to add 12.24 GW to the total
• Overall, cumulative PV capacity of the country now stands at 154.51 GW

New PV capacity additions in China in the first half of 2018 added up to 24.3 GW, according to the country's National Energy Administration (NEA). This basically the same level as in H1/2017, when new installations amounted to 24.4 GW, thanks to 13.5 GW added in June 2017 alone.

During the reporting period, China registered a strong decrease in large scale PV capacity – only 12.062 GW was added. On the other hand distributed PV generation, grew 72% YoY to 12.24 GW.

In Q1/2018, the country added 9.65 GW (see China Installed Record 9.65 GW PV In Q1/2018). This means, 14.65 GW were installed in Q2.

It will be interesting to see what China will install in H2. End of May, NEA had stopped funding for large-scale solar with immediate effect and limited distributed generation power support to 10 GW (although interestingly now 12 GW were installed in H1). This leaves in H2/2018 free capacities for the Top Runner project (7 GW) , the Poverty Alleviation Program (4 GW), a few miscellaneous projects, and an unknown volume of rooftop systems, which receive local support in some places in China. However, market analysts estimates for new 2018 installations in China range from as low as 30-35 GW from AECEA to 39 GW from Solar Power Europe, compared to additions of 53 GW in 2017.

Cumulative PV capacity as of June 2018 has now reached 154.51 GW. Utility scale PV comprises 112.6 GW, while distributed PV adds 41.903 GW to the total.