Leading integrated solar manufacturer Tongwei Solar has announced that its Global Innovation R&D Center has produced the first cell at its fully automated MW-scale perovskite-silicon tandem cell pilot line. Established in 2022, the lab adopts a process route compatible with existing heterojunction (HJT) production lines, focusing on key processes such as tandem cell structure design, high-quality conformal film deposition, interface passivation, low-temperature metallization, and module encapsulation. The lab claims to have already achieved an R&D cell efficiency of 34.78%, while 210 half-cut full-size cells (full area) reached an efficiency of 28.39%. Tongwei stated that the completion of the pilot line is a milestone in the transition of its tandem cell technology from the lab toward industrialization.
In August, Tongwei announced that its perovskite R&D team achieved a 31.58% conversion efficiency (31.4% certified) for tandem cells based on commercial silicon (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
China Power Engineering Consulting Group Co., Ltd. (CPECC), a subsidiary of Energy China, plans to develop a wind-solar-hydrogen integrated project in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, through its subsidiary. With a total investment of over RMB 2 billion ($279 million), the project will include a 200 MW solar PV plant, a 300 MW wind farm, and a supporting hydrogen production station with a 50 MW/50 MWh electrochemical storage system. Once completed, it will have an annual water electrolysis hydrogen output capacity of 16,400 tons.
The project is currently undergoing a social stability risk assessment disclosure. Construction is scheduled to be completed within 18 months from its commencement, with a total project life cycle of 25 months.
Earlier this month, Gezhouba Group Transportation Investment (CGGC), another subsidiary of Energy China, commenced construction of a highway transport-energy integration project on the Hexiang Expressway in Anhui Province (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
Chinese state-owned energy enterprise CHN Energy has completed what is said to be the country’s first demonstration project of a ‘grid-generation-storage-railway’ integrated energy supply system. Located on the railway between Baotou, Inner Mongolia, and Shenmu, Shaanxi, the project combines conventional grid supply with solar PV generation, optimized through a power integration device. Surplus renewable power and energy generated by braking are stored in an energy storage system, enabling energy recycling.
The demonstration system includes 6.02 MW of PV and 4 MWh of storage across a 303 km railway power supply section, with an expected annual output of 7.4 million kWh of green electricity. China Energy Group noted that the project sets an example for the green and low-carbon development of China’s 128,000 km of electrified railways.
Anhui Province has released a reform plan for marketizing renewable energy feed-in tariffs. The plan stipulates that all renewable generation (wind and PV) will be traded through the electricity market to form prices. A differential settlement mechanism will be established, under which volumes included in the mechanism will be settled against the difference between the mechanism tariff and the average market price. All industrial and commercial users will share costs or benefits.
The reform differentiates between existing and new projects. Existing projects (commissioned before June 1, 2025) will have a certain proportion of their volumes included under the mechanism tariff, which will be benchmarked to the provincial coal-fired power price (RMB 0.3844/kWh, $0.054/kWh). New projects (commissioned from June 1, 2025, onwards) must obtain mechanism volumes and tariffs through market-based competitive bidding, with pricing determined by marginal clearing.
The plan also specifies participation rules for renewable projects in both spot and medium-to-long-term power markets, while clarifying that mechanism volumes cannot simultaneously benefit from green electricity or green certificate revenues.
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