Solar installations soar past government targets. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
China has more than doubled its end-of-decade solar power target, with new installations dramatically outstripping expectation, according to the government’s energy agency.
By the end of July this year, China’s solar PV capacity topped 112GW, after installing a stunning 35GW in just seven months — more than twice as much as installed by any other country in all of 2016.
As a result, total solar PV capacity now exceeds the government’s 2020 goal of 105GW, set as recently as last year.
This could have created a very confusing situation for the industry – after years of record-setting installations, there was no target to hit – but the National Energy Administration (NEA) responded by setting new, ambitious annual installation targets.
These targets would take capacity to 213GW in 2020 — which is five times larger than current capacity of the United States.
That would mean covering an area of land equivalent to greater London – 1500km2 – with solar panels.
Current growth rates suggest China could even surpass that new, higher target.
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