How to get it? How to earn? New rules for subsidies for photovoltaic and wind power projects in 2019 are here

On May 30, the National Energy Administration officially issued the "Notice on Matters Concerning the Construction of Wind Power and Photovoltaic Power Generation Projects in 2019" and proposed that wind power and photovoltaic power generation projects are divided into those that do not require state subsidies and those that do not require state subsidies. Two types of state subsidies are needed. Instead, the construction of affordable Internet projects will be promoted through competitive allocation. At the same time, the "2019 Wind Power Project Construction Work Plan" and the "2019 Photovoltaic Power Generation Project Construction Work Plan" were announced.

Four "key points" for wind power and photovoltaic power generation project construction in 2019 (data sourced from the National Energy Administration)

The introduction of the above-mentioned policies, which are regarded by the industry as "market-oriented", also means that wind power and photovoltaic projects are accelerating the era of entry bidding.

　Clear classification

3 billion “lucky bags” have taken shape

Regarding the photovoltaic scale in 2019, which has attracted much attention in the industry, the "Notice" made it clear that the annual subsidized installed capacity scale will no longer be set. New photovoltaic power generation projects must comply with relevant national and regional plans, as well as market environment monitoring and evaluation and other management requirements, and "first-build, first-served" is strictly prohibited. For new photovoltaic power generation projects that require state subsidies, unless explicitly stipulated by the state, in principle, the market mechanism should determine the project and implement subsidy bidding in accordance with this notice. Based on the declared electricity price and a certain total annual subsidy scale, the scale of subsidized installed capacity will be determined by market competition.

The "Notice" also summarizes photovoltaic projects in 2019 into five categories, namely photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects, household photovoltaics, ordinary photovoltaic power stations, industrial and commercial distributed photovoltaic power generation projects, and state-organized and implemented photovoltaic power generation projects. Special projects or demonstration projects. Photovoltaic power generation projects other than photovoltaic poverty alleviation and household photovoltaics will allocate projects that require subsidies through bidding and participate in the national unified electricity price ranking. Household photovoltaics are managed separately based on the total annual installed capacity and fixed subsidy standards determined by the cut subsidy amount. The photovoltaic industry has thus entered a stage where multiple project models such as subsidy-free and affordable grid access and competitive allocation with national subsidies coexist.

But for 201For new photovoltaic projects in 9 years, more good news comes from the total subsidy budget of 3 billion yuan. In accordance with the principle of revenue-based expenditures, 750 million yuan will be used for household photovoltaics (equivalent to 3.5 million kilowatts), and subsidy bidding projects will be organized with a total subsidy of 2.25 billion yuan (excluding photovoltaic poverty alleviation) for project construction. According to expert calculations, the average kWh subsidy intensity for new photovoltaic power generation projects is less than 1 cent. If the project has not been connected to the grid within two quarters after the quarter in which it was declared to be put into operation, the project subsidy qualification will be cancelled, and it will be an important factor in the environmental monitoring and evaluation of the local photovoltaic power generation market and the application for the next year.

In order to further strengthen the on-grid electricity price and consumption guarantee of photovoltaic projects, the above-mentioned "Notice" also clearly states that the declared on-grid electricity price quotations should be sorted from low to high and included in the scope of subsidies. Competitive allocation is implemented by local organizations and unified nationwide; subsidy declaration and bidding are organized once a year in principle. As shown in the figure below, household photovoltaic projects that are connected to the grid within the next one-month buffer period according to the policy can receive a subsidy of 0.18 yuan/kWh of full power.

Strengthen absorption capacity

Wind power tends to bid for configuration

While photovoltaics promote marketization, Affordable access to the Internet and increased competitiveness have become the main directions of wind power in 2019.

According to the "2019 Wind Power Project Construction Work Plan", all new centralized wind power projects that require state subsidies in 2019 will be selected through competitive allocation, and at the same time, competitive low price limits are not allowed. That is to say, according to the planning basis, the region can also have a new total scale of competitive allocation of wind power. If there is no absorption capacity, competitive allocation of wind power projects that require state subsidies cannot be organized in 2019.

Generally speaking, in the field of wind power, we encourage and support the priority construction of affordable grid-connected wind power projects under the same conditions. As for the total scale of wind power projects in 2019, it is based on the region's 2020 planned grid connection target, minus the cumulative grid-connected installed capacity and projects that have been approved and valid and companies have committed to continue construction by the end of 2018. Under such a general plan, all types of proposed new wind power projects should be based on the implementation of project power transmission and ensuring a low guaranteed acquisition of annual utilization hours (or a wind curtailment rate of no more than 5%).

For decentralized wind power projects that do not participate in the pilot market-based trading of distributed power generation, they may not participate in competitive allocation, and their construction shall be approved by the local government’s energy authorities in accordance with relevant management and technical requirements. Similarly, distributed wind power, offshore wind power, grid parity projects, demonstration pilot projects specially arranged by the National Energy Administration, and supporting projects for inter-provincial and inter-regional transmission channels are not included in the calculation.

　(Original title: How to get it? How to earn it? New rules for subsidies for photovoltaic and wind power projects in 2019 are here)