China may only award subsidies to 70 MW of BIPV projects - report
Shanghai. August 12. INTERFAX-CHINA - Only 70 megawatts (MW) of building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) projects may get government subsidies, even though applications for more than 700 MW of projects have been submitted to the government, an industry insider told Shanghai Securities News on Aug. 12.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) announced in March that it would provide subsidies of RMB 20 ($2.92) per watt to buildings that use BIPV with a total installed capacity of more than 50 kilowatts (kW) in an effort to encourage BIPV development.
Many companies applied for the subsidy after the MoF's announcement. At an industry forum in May, a government official of Jiangsu Province said that his province alone submitted applications for projects with 200 MW of installed capacity in April.
The report was in line with industry expectations. Several developers and experts had previously told Interfax that a subsidy of RMB 20 per kW is enough to make a BIPV project profitable, but they did not believe the government would spend very much money on the program.
-TW