World-wide installed capacity of large-scale photovoltaic power plants hits record high

A few days ago, industry data statistics agency Wiki-Solar released data showing that in 2019, the new installed capacity of large-scale photovoltaic ground power stations in the world exceeded 45 GW, and the cumulative installed capacity exceeded 220 GW, setting a new historical record.

Wiki-solar founder Philip Wolfe said that after a brief decline in installed capacity of large-scale ground power stations in 2017-2018, the recovering growth in 2019 is largely due to emerging markets. "Of course, China, the United States and India, as the top three countries in terms of cumulative installed capacity, are also far ahead in terms of new installed capacity."

According to Wiki-Solar statistics, as of the end of 2019, the top five countries in the world's cumulative installed capacity of large-scale photovoltaic ground power stations are China, the United States, India, the United Kingdom and Japan. Compared with the previous year, Japan surpassed Germany and advanced to fifth place.

It is worth noting that in 2019, Vietnam has become the emerging market with the most rapid rise in photovoltaic installations. In terms of large-scale power stations, the annual installed capacity exceeded 3.4 GW, ranking fourth in the world in terms of increase.

However, recently, the new photovoltaic power generation subsidy policy drafted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam lowered the electricity price of photovoltaic projects under construction or planned construction, which caused widespread concern in the domestic photovoltaic industry in Vietnam.

It is reported that in recent years, in order to alleviate the power shortage, Vietnam has adopted a series of measures such as electricity subsidies, tax incentives, land rent reduction and other measures to develop photovoltaic power generation, and domestic photovoltaic installations have grown rapidly. However, as new projects were put into mass production, Vietnam ’s domestic power grid was severely overloaded. At the same time, in order to stimulate economic growth, local governments are continuing to approve new projects. For this reason, the Vietnamese government has to adjust its policies to "cool down" the industry. At the end of last year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam has requested that all regions suspend the approval of photovoltaic projects under the feed-in tariff scheme. In addition, in the areas where photovoltaic projects are concentrated and connected to the grid, new infrastructures such as power grids are newly built or renovated to further increase power transmission capacity. Similarly, the recently announced electricity price reduction policy is also a "cooling down" move. A series of adjustment policies will also increase the uncertainty of Vietnam's photovoltaic market in 2020.

In addition to Vietnam, according to statistics from Wiki-Solar, the increase in installed capacity of large-scale photovoltaic power plants in the UAE and Egypt cannot be underestimated. In 2019, two ultra-large-scale photovoltaic projects with a total size of more than 1.1 GW and 1.5 GW in the Banban area of the UAE capital Abu Dhabi and Egypt's Aswan province were completed, which greatly boosted the photovoltaic installation capacity of the two countries. growth of.

Facing the 2020 market, Philip Wolfe said that among European countries, the Netherlands will have room for further growth, and the cumulative installed capacity of large-scale ground power stations is expected to exceed 1 GW. At the same time, under the leadership of countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina, the photovoltaic market in South and Central America will also receive much attention. In addition, with the rapid development of the Spanish and Australian photovoltaic markets, the UK's global ranking is at risk of decline.