Feed-in tariffs for onshore wind energy and photovoltaics in China have been adjusted.

While announcements for a reduction of the feed-in tariff for renewables have already been discussed in October last year, the exact new prices to be paid to renewable energy producers were not known yet. The goal was however to reduce feed-in tariffs by roughly 3-4 per cent per year, so that onshore wind might reach grid parity by 2020.

In late December 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission released its updated numbers on the feed-in tariffs for onshore wind and photovoltaics for the next years. The table below depicts the feed-in tariffs for both technologies depending on the resource area they are located in. China’s landmass can be categorized according to different availability of solar and wind resources. The higher the resource type, the lower the available resources from the sun and the wind.

Table: Feed-in tariffs for Photovoltaic and onshore wind in China

Resource type PV feed-in tariff (CNY/kWh)
 2015201620172018
I0.900.80
II0.950.88
III1.000.98
Resource typeWind feed-in tariff (CNY/kWh)
 2015201620172018
I0.490.470.470.44
II0.520.500.500.47
III0.560.540.540.51
IV0.610.600.600.58

Source: Energy Brainpool

For PV the on-grid price has only been announced for the year 2016, most probably to be able to react to changing prices and construction during the year. While the wind energy tariffs have been less pronounced than expected, the drop for the PV feed-in tariff has been bigger in resource type I and II areas compared to the proposal in October. This might well be due to the fact that the Chinese government expects further decreases of PV costs, as well as in order to have a more balanced distribution of PV power plants across the country.