China's Electricity Pricing Shifts in Blow to Solar Power, Boon for Batteries - Bloomberg
China’s Electricity Pricing Shifts in Blow to Solar Power, Boon for Batteries - Bloomberg
China’s Electricity Pricing Shifts in Blow to Solar Power, Boon for Batteries
- Addition of record solar capacity is posing challenges
- Energy storage expected to more than triple this year
China is changing its power system in ways that reduce payments to solar providers while making energy storage more profitable, as it seeks to digest an unprecedented boom in new solar panels across the country.
At least 20 of China’s 35 provinces and regions have adopted electricity rate regimes that reduce prices in the middle of the day and raise them in peak morning and evening hours, according to trade publication International Energy Network. The shifts will likely reduce revenue for solar during peak generation hours, while boosting profits of storage systems, particularly batteries, that can buy power when prices are low and sell when they rise.
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China’s Electricity Pricing Shifts in Blow to Solar Power, Boon for Batteries
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: solar
Declining costs and government encouragement have resulted in a rapid increase in solar energy production in the United States over the past 10 years, although solar’s share remains small: 1.6 percent of all electricity generation in 2018. That rapid growth is projected to continue.