China pledges more support for renewable energy

Intent on curbing air pollution.

The National Development and Reform Commission issued new subsidy standards for distributed solar power generation projects, stipulating a US$0.07 subsidy for every kilowatt hour of electricity produced by distributed photovoltaic or PV power units.

The policy is the country's first of its kind. Distributed PV power units were previously subsidized on a project-investment basis. The new standards will cover units not included in the previous policy.

China will also lower the price of the power generated by some PV stations. In some solar-rich western regions, the price will be lowered to US$0.147 per kWh, from the previous national standard of US$0.163 per kWh.

The policy will be applied to projects registered after Sept 1 or registered before that date but that will be put in use after the beginning of next year. The subsidy commitment will last at least 20 years.

The price of the power generated by PV stations in eastern regions will be kept at US$0.163 per kWh.