1800 MW of solar PV projects, China shows the way.
When I read this news, I was taken aback by the sheer size of projects. Four projects at Shaanxi, Qinghai, Shizuishan and Panzhihua with plant size ranging from 300 MW to 500 MW speaks volume about China’s determined foray in renewable energy. And mind you, these projects have been decided and placed on only one company, Suntech. Implementation of these projects will definitely take sometime. But the sheer size of the Chinese market can send, any solar field market watcher in to tizzy. China has been building capacities both in terms of size as well as technologies since early nineties. With abundant solar power and steady solar insolation through the year, china is determined to push cleaner power in to Chinese homes at a much faster rate.
1800 MW of projects when compared with total US annual market of 350 MW looks mind boggling. Suntech with manufacturing facilities in different parts of China and Japan, is the largest solar photovoltaic modules manufacturer in the world and is trying to reach 2GW of installed capacity by 2010. Suntech and a host of other Chinese solar photovoltaic companies have grown quite fast. Suntech in only the year 2006 had installed capacity of 240 MW and to reach a level of 2000 MW in 2010, more than 8 times is something exceptional. China’s banks and funding agencies with command and control from their government have been aiding and fuelling solar energy growth.
With strong thrust on renewable energy, China is revving up its economy decisively. CleanTech is the investment opportunity of the century. And China is the fastest on the blocks to win the race. India did the same thing with IT and it appears that China is going to win this race in CleanTech hands down. India also has lots of potential which can be evident from Solar power map but size of its companies in Solar photovoltaic segment is nothing compared to China.
Copenhagen summit later this year, on climate change will see lots of pressure coming to India to cap its carbon emissions. India has so far steadfastly sustained and handled the pressure from US and EU countries with aplomb. But with China stealing the march and conclusively getting far ahead in renewable energy, India may get isolated and may find it difficult to fend off pressures from developed countries.
India needs determined push. Indian Government has planned lots of incentives but support structure needs to be relooked into. MNRE is planning to have installed manufacturing capacity of 1000 MW by 2017. But definitely a long way to go comparing with the world standards.
Image from Flickr by jurvetson under creative commons
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Solar Energy is one of the best sources of clean and green electricity. I think that we should build more efficient solar thermal power plants and solar cells. frequently. “