India could benefit from China’s halt on solar

The world’s largest solar power market, China, has announced a halt on new solar energy projects.

India, which has set the target of reaching 100GW of solar capacity by 2022, could reap the benefits of this news, Quartz reported.

The country currently has a total solar capacity of 22GW.

With China to slow its solar industry, this could lead to the global cost of solar panels dropping.

India imports almost 90% of the solar panels it uses, the majority of which are from China.

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“If they (China) are holding back, that means their manufacturing capacity would be available for the global market, which will have an impact on reducing cost, commented Cleantech Partner at PwC, Amit Kumar, Quartz noted.

“If the availability (of panels) is increased and costs come down, tariffs will come down and it is a positive sign.”

Last year, solar projects accounted for almost 40% of new energy generation capacity added in India.

The nation has also seen a drop in solar power tariffs, reaching record lows – solar has becomes cheaper than coal-based power.

The recent ReNew Power acquisition of Ostro is also anticipated to make the sector more efficient and increase the speed of operations.