According to the "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" reported on August 23, holding 80% of the global market share of the photovoltaic power generation industry, China's major companies are still competing to invest in increasing production. Not only are countries committed to achieving carbon neutrality to stimulate the photovoltaic industry demand, but also new products with higher power generation efficiency are about to achieve mass production. The additional capacity planned and under construction is equivalent to 340 new nuclear reactors per year.
100 MW PV agriculture and tourism integrated utilization demonstration project in Luonan, Shaanxi.
According to the report, photovoltaic power generation is a typical equipment industry, where the larger the scale of production, the lower the cost. Longi Green Energy, the world's largest manufacturer of monocrystalline silicon wafers and modules, has invested a total of more than 10 billion yuan in building new plants in four locations, including Jiaxing, Zhejiang province. In June this year, Trina Solar, which is building new plants in Jiangsu and other locations, announced that it had broken ground on its 10 GW per year cell and 10 GW per year module plant in Qinghai, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
The report also cites statistics from the General Electric Power Planning and Design Institute, which put China's installed power generation capacity at a total of 2,377 GW by the end of 2021, including 307 GW of grid-connected solar power capacity. By the time the new plants planned and under construction are completed, annual shipments of solar panels will already exceed the installed power generation capacity in 2021.
However, the PV industry does have good news on the horizon. Forecasts from the International Energy Agency show that by 2050, PV will account for 33% of global electricity generation, second only to wind power.
The China Photovoltaic Industry Association released news in February that by 2025, the world's new installed PV power capacity is expected to exceed 300 GW, with more than 30% of that coming from China. Chinese companies, which account for 80% of the global market share, stand to gain a lot from this, as demand is likely to increase significantly both domestically and internationally.
The report concludes that, against the backdrop of the carbon neutrality trend, it is indisputable that the long-term demand for photovoltaic power is growing. However, fierce competition for investment is also sapping the internal strength of companies. Statistics from financial data and information provider WAND show that six of the 11 solar panel manufacturers listed in the mainland Chinese market will lose money in 2021. Competition for investment, which values scale more than returns, may be redrawing the industry map by eliminating the weak.