China has promised to give more support for the country's ailing solar power industry as the government looks to revitalize a sector that is challenged with overcapacity and declining prices, Reuters reported. In July, China's cabinet known as the State Council, said that the country intends to more than quadruple its solar power generating capacity to 35 gigawatts by 2015. The move will be done in an effort to ease the oversupply in the local solar power industry, the report said.
A statement posted on the website of the State Council said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology was taking steps to encourage the healthy development of the country's photovoltaic industry. The statement said that the ministry was executing the directive issued in July by supporting consolidation in the solar industry. It is also putting together mergers and acquisitions guidelines as well as promoting standardization in the industry.
Moreover, the statement said that the ministry was fostering technological innovation, particularly where it relates to decentralized solar power installations that are not linked to the power grid. Moreover, the agency said it was also supporting efforts geared towards research and development of batteries that have the capacity to store solar electricity.
The statement also said that the ministry wanted to improve standardization and see to it that there is orderly competition in the photovoltaic industry.
According to the State Council, the solar industry made a recovery last year. The total installed solar power generating capacity went up by about 8 GW. Of this capacity, 6 GW were in power plants while the remaining 2 GW were in decentralized installations. The figures were culled from the preliminary estimates of the China Photovoltaic Industry Alliance, according to the statement.
Despite the efforts, Reuters reported that LDK Solar Co Ltd and JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd, two Chinese firms that produce solar equipment are on the brink of bankruptcy.
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