Chinese Government cuts 80% Solar Support

China has been going through a massive overinvestment spree in the last 5 years as the monetary authorities loosened conditions in the aftermath of the Lehman crisis. The credit growth in China has been truly spectacular and has resulted in increased fragilities in the banking system. The recent spurt in overnight lending to around 10%, indicates that the banking system is under quite a bit of stress despite reporting low NPAs.

Read about the Chinese Solar Industry here.

The Chinese solar industry also saw huge over-investment resulting in global capacity expanding to almost 60 GW, in comparison to the 30 GW of demand in 2012. The whole industry saw negative operating margins as solar manufacturers sold below cost. Thousands of solar companies have shut down in the last couple of years unable to sustain the massive losses caused due to the Chinese solar building spree. China also saw most of the smaller Tier 2 and Tier 3 companies shutting down, as they were selling below variable costs. The silver lining in 2013 was the large increase in demand, as solar electricity prices reached grid parity in many places in the world. Demand is expected to be around 35 GW in 2013 and reach as high as 50 GW in 2014. Prices have stabilized and many companies are starting to return to the black, after 2 years of continuous losses. The Chinese government too realizes that it cannot sustain such an unwieldy industry and wants only the strong companies to survive. The government wants the industry to consolidate and has decided to cut support to around 80% of the companies. 109 companies have been shortlisted who will receive support from the government and be allowed to bid for government tenders. Note China is going to be the largest market for solar panels by far in the coming years, with a target to install 12 GW in 2014. Large solar companies have a large opportunity due to their low costs and domestic advantages. Smaller companies which are already facing huge issues from lack of capital and credit issues will face a further disadvantage.

This is all positive for large Chinese solar companies such as Trina, Yingli, Renesola, JA Solar, Jinko Solar and others who have multi gigawatts of capacity. The other non listed players such as GoldPoly are also set to benefit from the revised guidelines issued by the Chinese government for the solar industry.

List of Chinese Government Support Companies

Complying with the list of enterprise’s ‘photovoltaic manufacturing industry norms conditions’ (first batch)

Province Enterprise (Product types)

1) Changzhou Trina Solar Limited (ingots, wafers, cells, modules)

2) Jiangsu Trina Solar (Changzhou) Co. Ltd. (cells, modules)

3) Hebei Yingli Energy (China) Co. Ltd. (silicon ingots, wafers, cells, modules)

4) Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co. Ltd. (ingots, wafers, cells, modules)

5) Hebei Fine Silicon Co. Ltd. (Polysilicon)

6) Jiangsu Sunshine Artes Power Technology Co. Ltd. (battery)

7) Artes Changshu, Jiangsu Sunshine Power Technology Co. Ltd. (components)

8) Henan Artes Solar Power (Luoyang) Co. Ltd (ingots, wafers)

9) Hebei Jinglong Industrial Group Ltd. (silicon)

10) Hebei Ning Jinjing Hing Electronic Materials Co. Ltd. (silicon rods)

11) Hebei Ningjin Soggong Electronic Materials Co. Ltd. (silicon rods)

12) Crystal Dragon Xingtai Electronic Materials Co. Ltd. (silicon)

13) Hebei JA Solar Holding Co Ltd. (battery)

14) Shanghai Shanghai JA Solar Technology Co. Ltd. (components)

15) Jiangsu Crystal Australia (Yangzhou) Solar Technology Co. Ltd. (battery)

16) Hebei JA Solar Technology Co. Ltd. (components)

17) Jiangsu SunEnergy (Nanjing) Co. Ltd. photovoltaic (cell)

18) Shanghai Power Technology (Shanghai) Solar Energy Technology Co. Ltd. (components)

19) Jiangsu Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon Technology Development Co. Ltd. (Polysilicon)

20) Jiangsu GCL Silicon Material Technology Development Co. Ltd.(ingots, wafers)

21) Taicang Jiangsu GCL Solar Technology Co. Ltd. (silicon)

22) Yangzhou Jiangsu GCL Solar Technology Co. Ltd. (silicon)

23) Jiangsu Gaojia Solar Co. Ltd. (Ingots, wafers)

24) Suzhou GCL Photovoltaic Technology Co. Ltd. (silicon)

25) Henan and Henan GCL Solar Technology Co. Ltd. (silicon rods)

26) Jiangxi Jinko Solar Co. Ltd. (silicon ingots, wafers, cells, modules)

27) Hebei Light Green New Energy Co. Ltd. (ingots, wafers, cells, modules)

28) Changzhou EGing Optoelectronics Technology Co. Ltd. (wafers, cells, modules)

29) Suhan Hua Jiang New Energy (Qidong) Co. Ltd. (cells, modules)

30) Chongqing Daqo New Energy Co. Ltd. (Polysilicon)

31) Solar Energy Co. Ltd.Jiangsu Zhenjiang Daquan (battery)

32) Jiangsu Ott Las Energy (Taicang) Co. Ltd. (battery)

33) Jiangsu Sunenergy Co. Ltd. (cells, modules)

34) Jiansu Electric Trillion Crystal Optoelectronic Technology Co. Ltd. Jiangsu (silicon ingots, silicon rods, silicon)

35) Jiangsu Jiang Su Wanfeng PV Ltd. (assembly)

36) Jun Xin Technology Co. Ltd. Jiangsu  (battery)

37) Jiangsu Eopolly New Energy Technology Co. Ltd. (cells, modules)

38) Jiangsu Jiang Su Aide Solar Energy Technology Co. Ltd. (components)

39) Phono Solar Technology Co. Ltd. Jiangsu Jiang (components)

40) Jiangsu Jintan Electronics Co. Ltd. (components)

41) Jiangsu Jiangsu Yongneng Photovoltaic Technology Co. Ltd. (components)

42) Jiangsu Jiang Yin Xinhui Solar Ltd. (cell)

43) Jiangsu Mao Di (Suzhou) New Energy Co. Ltd. (battery)

44) Jiangsu Wang Energy photovoltaic (Wujiang) Co. Ltd. (battery)

45) Jiangsu Solar Energy Saving Technology (Zhenjiang) Co. Ltd. (components)

46) Hebei Juli New Energy Co. Ltd. (cells, modules)

47) Zhejiang and Zhejiang Chint Solar Technology Co. Ltd. (cells, modules)

48) Shanghai Shanghai Chint Solar Technology Co. Ltd. (Components)

49) Zhejiang and Zhejiang Hongxi Photovoltaic Technology Co. Ltd. (battery)

50) Zhejiang Hengdian Group Co. Ltd. (cells, modules)

51) Hangzhou Magnetic and Thermal Electronics Co. Ltd. (battery)

52) Zhejiang AD Solar Inc. (cells, modules)

53) Hangzhou Zhejiang University Sunny Energy Science and Technology Co. Ltd. (components)

54) New Energy Co. Ltd. Zhejiang cord (battery)

55) Zhejiang Briggs Solar Co. Ltd. (battery)

56) Zhejiang Leye Photovoltaic Co. Ltd. (Assembly)

57) Shanghai Suntech Power Co. Ltd. (battery)

58) Shanghai Shanghai Alex New Energy Co. Ltd. (cells, modules)

59) Shanghai Shanghai BYD Co. Ltd.(Assembly)

60) Shanghai Solar technology Co. Ltd. Shanghai Super (components)

61) Shanghai Shanghai Shenzhou New Energy Development Co. Ltd. (battery)

62) Shandong and Shandong Linuo Photovoltaic Technologies Ltd. (components)

63) Shandong and Shandong Linuo Solar power Co. Ltd. (battery)

64) Shandong Run Peak Power Co. Ltd. (cells, modules)