context: Although proposing grid companies and grid-parity project developers to sign a long-term contract (no less than 20 years) with fixed on-grid prices, the draft measures does not specify whether 'fixed on-grid prices' means that the prices will be equal to and fluctuate with on-grid prices for coal-fired power plants or if they will be fixed by the government.
On 10 Apr 2019, National Energy Administration is calling for comment on measures promoting subsidy-free (grid-parity) wind and solar project construction', requiring provincial energy authorities to
- prioritise construction of projects that can reach grid parity and confirm a group of projects that can start construction in 2019
- decide on the first group of grid-parity projects before launching competitive bidding for projects that require state subsidy
- prioritise consumption of power from grid-parity projects
- encouraging projects approved prior to 2018 to switch to grid-parity projects
- cancel projects that were approved, but
- have not started construction for two years and have not applied for extension
- have applied for extension but have not started construction within extended period
While encouraging grid-parity projects, the draft measures still require provincial governments and power generators to ensure consumption of power produced by the new projects. The draft measures also ranked the wind and solar projects in terms of grid access priority
- projects approved in or before 2018 that are willing to switch to grid-parity projects
- 2019 newly constructed projects
- subsidised projects
As such, permitted installed capacity will be constrained for subsidised projects, says Peng Peng 彭彭 China New Energy Investment and Finance Alliance secretary-general. Also concerned about rising renewable wastage, many provinces remain cautious on submitting new grid-parity projects. Liaoning province already has a large number of solar projects that were approved or under construction, uninhibited approval of new projects might result in high solar power wastage, says Sun Yufang 孙玉芳 Liaoning Provincial Energy Department director.