Photovoltaic power station

“We have circulated lots of land in the northwest region and have a lot of projects in reserve. We are all planning to build a large-scale ground power station.” A person in charge of a state-owned new energy company told reporters.

Large-scale developers are still staring at ground power stations. The ground power stations are large-scale, large-scale investment, and easy to manage; but at the same time they also face the difficulties of grid-connected and unclear policies; distributed photovoltaic power stations are the development direction supported by the state, but the implementation of the same Not smooth.

The chairman of the China Renewable Energy Society, Shi Dingxiang, stated that it is now necessary to promote electric reform in order to break the monopoly's institutional constraints on the development of new energy electric power, and photovoltaic power plants can be constructed in accordance with economic efficiency.

Large power station favored

According to the general concept, large-scale ground stations are suitable for the northwest region where solar energy resources are abundant and land resources are abundant.

Distributed photovoltaic power stations are power plants on the roofs of public buildings, commercial buildings, and factory parks. Individual projects do not exceed 6 megawatts. They are mainly self-use, and the surplus power is allowed to access distribution networks below 35 kV.

In the early stages of the country, large-scale ground power stations were constructed through bidding in the northwest. The standard implemented before the end of 2013 was the 1 yuan/kWh electricity price standard, but it was plagued by the grid connection problem. The “12th Five-Year Plan” specifically divided the photovoltaic power station targets into large-scale ground power stations and distributions. Photovoltaic power plant in two parts.

To this end, the relevant departments have specifically introduced the distributed power plant power generation management measures to subsidize the price policy, and grid companies have also specifically established procedures and standards for the access of distributed photovoltaic power plants. At present, the distributed photovoltaic power station implements a 0.42 yuan/kWh subsidy according to the amount of electricity generated.

Although the national plan supports distributed photovoltaic power generation and has specifically set development goals, large ground power stations are still favored by developers.

The above-mentioned person in charge of the state-owned new energy company told this reporter during the workshop on green energy equipment held in Yangzhong, Jiangsu Province that large-scale ground-based photovoltaic power plants are large-scale and easy-to-manage. Power plant developers including the five major power generation groups all have independent Zhong, build large-scale ground power stations in places with good grid connection conditions.

He also told reporters that the company has reserved large-scale projects in places where solar energy resources are excellent, and the available land resources in areas with good solar energy resources are basically delineated. Including investors and private developers, they all began to envelop in the early stages and began to build or transfer after waiting for the subsidy and grid-connected policies to be clearly defined.

The new subsidy policy for large-scale power stations implemented since 2014 implements a price policy of RMB 0.9 to RMB 0.95 per kWh based on resource conditions. This objectively reduces the income of terrestrial power stations. Investors’ expectations for the level of national adjustment subsidies have changed. Have turned to wait and see.

However, according to the reporter’s understanding, the emerging solar thermal power generation is studying and formulating the subsidy electricity price policy. The land that has been delineated in the previous period will be adjusted by the developer according to the electricity price policy. Which type of electricity price has a high return and the income can be expected to be invested. The price is good.

Many investment institutions and enterprises are still flooding into the west, and they are receiving approvals in areas with good solar energy resources and favorable conditions for grid connection, hoping to provide opportunities for large power plants.

Distributed power station construction slow
Our reporter learned that both large-scale developers and small-scale private enterprises have limited interest in distributed power stations.

The above-mentioned sources analyzed this reporter's report that distributed power plants are very fragmented from the acquisition of roof resources to power plant management, and large-scale enterprises are not willing to take resources one by one.

Moreover, distributed power plants are mainly self-employed, and projects for industrial and commercial roofs and public buildings are better. One type of industrial park is very sustainable, but the park generally does it on its own, and there are few opportunities for outsiders to enter. Large companies also expect the survival cycle of individual companies. Once the company shuts down and has a greater impact on power stations, it is not interested in distributed power plants.

In addition, the private enterprises that had once been keen on distributed power plants have not gone well.

The reporter learned from the local authorities in Jiangsu that the initial application of distributed power plants was based on local applications. However, the completion of the project was not very good. The percentage of completion of local reports last year was only about 10%. Most of the projects were shelved.

In an interview with reporters, Shi Dingxi thinks that it is mainly affected by grid connection and that distributed power plants cannot bring about the expected benefits. At the same time, due to the complex roof conditions, the development of distributed power plants is not going well.

The local photovoltaic power price in Jiangsu is still relatively high, but there are still many companies that have received distributed power plant projects in the past and are looking for buyers. All show that even with the promotion of policies, the implementation of distributed power plants has encountered major problems.

In addition to the macroscopic issues of power reform, Shi Dingyi also believes that compared to the early days, the power grid companies have already made many improvements, including the application of grid-connected procedures, standards for access to the power grid, and an open attitude. The responsibility is not entirely in the grid company, but it still faces various problems.

Shi Dingxi told reporters that distributed power plants and large-scale ground power plants should be “according to local conditions and have many complementary functions”, combined with the plans for the construction of new cities and towns, and coordinate with new energy development plans.

Corporate wait-and-see policy

The introduction of few policies is also one of the reasons why companies have been taking a wait-and-see attitude.

According to the reporter’s understanding, companies are currently waiting for subsidies for CSP, which was generally expected to be 1.4 yuan/kWh in the previous period.

However, Shi Dingyao believes that technologies like light and heat, which are not fully mature, should be conducted in the form of pilots and demonstrations. The implementation of a uniform electricity price will inevitably cause companies to come to projects.

In response to the policy of lowering the price of ground-level power plants, Shi Dingxi analyzed that the government should adjust the price of electricity in accordance with the cost, but it should stabilize the price of electricity for a period of time, so that the company's expectations are more clear, and adjusting too frequently is not conducive to the development of the industry.

Wang Lubao, chairman of Jiangsu Huantai Group, which is engaged in front-end manufacturing of the photovoltaic industry, still believes that the government should continue to increase support and guidance for photovoltaic backbone enterprises, and use government guidance and market forces to promote the development of photovoltaic backbone enterprises. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology must strengthen guidance in two publicly-regulated enterprises and promote the healthy growth of key enterprises. We will control small-scale, poorly-competitive enterprises and increase their integration efforts.

Subsidies for photovoltaic power generation all enter the pockets of power plant developers, but at the same time, project financing is difficult to obtain and banks rarely lend to projects. The state's policies include financing support measures for the photovoltaic manufacturing industry and encourage financial institutions to take measures to ease the financing difficulties of photovoltaic manufacturing companies.

In 2013, China's major listed photovoltaic manufacturers were still losing money. The leader, Yingli, lost more than 300 million U.S. dollars, while other companies suffered a smaller loss, but the loss was still relatively large and did not really benefit from the fast-growing photovoltaic market in China.

Wang Lubao believes that photovoltaic backbone enterprises are still plagued by problems such as credit tightening, cumbersome transfer procedures, and long waiting periods.

Private enterprises are also worried that state-owned enterprises in the photovoltaic industry chain expansion, and private enterprises repeated investment, Wang Lubao proposed to vigorously integrate the upstream and downstream industry chain, and maintain the photovoltaic market, the power companies in the central enterprises can make full use of their advantages to engage in power plants, grid and power generation.