Two articles on renewable energy investments in China

China set to subsidize renewable energy
By Richard Fu
Shanghai Daily
Dec 20, 2012

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nsp/Business/2012/12/20/China%2Bset%2Bto%2Bsubsidize%2Brenewable%2Benergy/

CHINA will pay 8.6 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) in subsidies for power
generated from renewable sources this year, the Ministry of Finance said
yesterday.

The funds will be allocated by provincial financial authorities to grid
companies which purchase renewable power from generators at above-market
tariffs.

Of the funds for this year, 5.85 billion yuan will go to wind power, 723
million yuan for solar power, and 2.02 billion yuan used to subsidize
electricity generated from biomass, the ministry said in a statement
posted on its website.

Earlier this month, the National Development and Reform Commission,
China's top economic planner, asked grid operators to pay overdue
subsidies to renewable power developers for the period from October 2010
to April 2011, following a two-year delay.

Grid companies are required to pay subsidies - a fixed amount allocated
on top of the benchmark tariffs for coal-fired power in each region -
while they can collect a surcharge from consumers to finance the payment.

But the payment has been halted in some provinces because the surcharge
failed to cover the subsidies, creating cash flow pressure on many
developers.

****

China Tops World in Wind Power, Hydropower Capacity
Xinhua News Agency
December 9, 2012

http://www.bjreview.com.cn/Energy/txt/2012-12/10/content_505918.htm

China's installed capacities for wind power and hydropower have grown to
the world's largest, said Liu Zhenya, president of the China Electricity
Council (CEC), on Sunday.

Liu said at a power industry summit that China's installed wind power
capacity expanded rapidly in the past decade, recording a yearly growth
of more than 60 percent. Its cumulative total, now 118 times more than
that of 10 years ago, secured the country's position as the world's top
wind energy provider, Liu said.

Liu also said that China, now the world's leader in both wind power and
hydropower capacity, witnessed soaring growth in other clean energy
sectors in the same period. Its solar photovoltaic power capacity surged
by more than 50 percent each year.

Liu, also general manager of the country's largest grid operator, said
China will continue to optimize its energy structure by tapping new
energy sources, in a bid to secure future energy supply.

CEC also advised at the summit that China should construct a strong and
smart power grid to back up the development of clean energy in the
country, as well as building a market mechanism to help new energy
sectors boom.
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