As Reuters has reported, China is considering cutting the electricity price paid by grid companies to renewable power generators to reflect recent declines in operating costs. A draft proposal for the price cut of feed-in tariff for renewables were discussed by China’s regulator, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

CSP plant in Qinghai (Source: ChinaDaily
© ChinaDaily

In discussion are according to Reuters price cuts of 0.03-0.05 yuan per kilowatt-hour (kWh) (equal to 0.4 until 0.7 ct/kWh) by next year, and tariffs would also be cut a further 0.03 yuan (0.4 ct/kWh) per year until 2020. The current wholesale tariffs for solar power stand at 0.9-1.0 yuan per kWh (12 to 14 ct/kWh).

China had 37.95 gigawatts of grid-connected solar power by the end of the third quarter, up 35 percent since the start of the year but accounting for just 2.74 percent of the national total, as CEEN has reported.

Total wind capacity reached 108.85 gigawatts by the end of September, up 28.3 percent year on year and amounting to 7.9 percent of the total, according to the latest National Energy Administration figures, which already leads to capacity reductions, as CEEN has reported.

Background:

As construction and operating costs of renewables fall, China is aiming to set a single price for renewable and conventional power sources by as early as 2020. Operating costs of thermal power plants have been declining recently following a collapse in coal prices. Coal is responsible for around 65 percent of China’s total energy requirements and around 75 percent of power generation.

However, China aims in the energy turnaround to raise the share of non-fossil fuels in its total primary energy mix to 15 percent by 2020, up from 11 percent at the end of last year.