Solar battery output up 53% in Q1

China's solar battery output in the first quarter surged by 53.2 percent year-on-year, compared with the 24.3 percent year-on-year growth in the same period in 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

Experts said the big growth will have a positive influence on the supply chain as it will ease the pressure of demand for solar batteries from downstream photovoltaic facility manufacturers who are keen to ramp up their production.

Installed capacity of solar power totaled 413 million kilowatts by the end of February, up 30.8 percent year-on-year, according to the National Energy Administration.

The NEA said while the first two months saw 20 million kW of additional installed capacity, more efforts are in the pipeline to develop wind and solar power, targeting installed capacity of about 160 million kW this year.

It also said the country will start developing offshore solar power this year.

The goal is to raise the proportion of wind and solar power in total electricity consumption from 13.8 percent last year to 15.3 percent this year, the administration said.

"The surge in solar battery output marks a strong support for China to achieve the goal. In addition, downstream PV facility manufacturers may see lower costs resulting from the battery output expansion. However, it is important to avoid the situation of over-surplus capacity," said Lin Boqiang, head of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University.

Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said the surge in solar battery output was buoyed by China's growing demand for new energy infrastructure and a result of the country's structural adjustment of the energy industry, as it revs up renewable development to reach its green goals.

In the past year, newly added wind and PV installed capacity reached 125 million kW, a historic high, of which newly increased solar power capacity was 87.41 million kW, the NEA said.

The administration said construction of a few wind and solar projects in the Gobi Desert and other arid areas with total installed capacity of 97.05 kW has begun.

The NEA said China's production of solar and wind power facility parts has accounted for about 70 percent of the world's total with some advanced technologies leading globally.