In March 2015, the NEA announced the PV installation target for 2015 to be 17.8 GW. In December 2015, the NDRC announced that it would cut the solar power tariffs in resource zones I, II and III to RMB 0.80/kWh, RMB 0.88/kWh and RMB 0.98/kWh from current RMB 0.90/kWh, RMB 0.95/kWh and RMB 1.00/kWh, respectively, representing reductions of 2% to 11%, effective January 1, 2016. At the same time, China Renewable Energy Fund surcharge fee increased from RMB 15/MWh to RMB 19/MWh.
In December 2016, the NDRC announced the solar power tariff revisions for 2017 as follows. First, in 2017, for solar power plants in resource zones I, II and III, the benchmark FIT will be lowered from RMB0.80/0.88/0.98/kWh in 2016 to RMB0.65/0.75/0.85/kWh, or by 19%/15%/13%. Second, the subsidy for distributed-generation solar power projects will remain unchanged at RMB0.42/kWh. Third, for solar power projects registered prior to 2017 and eligible for fiscal subsidies, the FIT at the 2016 level will remain applicable if they are connected to the grid and in operation by June 30, 2017. Fourth, future solar power tariffs will be revised annually based on cost changes.
In December 2017, the NDRC announced the solar power tariff revisions for 2018. In 2018, for solar power plants in resource zones I, II and III, the benchmark FIT will be lowered from RMB0.65/0.75/0.85/kWh in 2017 to RMB0.55/0.65/0.75/kWh, or by 15%/13%/12%. The new rate for distributed-generation solar power projects will be RMB0.37/kWh, which is about RMB 0.05/kWh lower than in 2017. However, the FIT rate will remain the same for all solar projects built under the Chinese government’s program to alleviate poverty in rural areas, at RMB0.42/kWh.
On April 2, 2018, the NEA issued the Circular on Matters Concerning Easing the Burden of Enterprises in Renewable Energy Sector, which emphasized the strict implementation of the Renewable Energy Law to ensure the sound development of the renewable energy sector and promote the optimization of investment environment to reduce costs of renewable energy exploitation.
On May 31, 2018, the NDRC, the NEA and the Ministry of Finance jointly promulgated the Circular on Relevant Matters Concerning Photovoltaic Power Generation in 2018, or the Circular 823. The Circular 823 stipulates that there will be no arrangement on the installation target of ordinary solar power plants for 2018 on a temporary basis, and the installation target of distributed-generation solar power projects for 2018 is 10GW. In addition, starting from May 31, 2018, for solar power plants newly put into operation in resource zones I, II and III, the benchmark FIT will be lowered from RMB0.55/0.65/0.75/kWh in 2017 to RMB0.5/0.6/0.7/kWh, or by 9%/8%/7%, and the new rate for distributed-generation solar power projects will be lowered from RMB0.37/kWh to RMB0.32/kWh. The FIT rate will remain the same for all solar projects built under the Chinese government’s program to alleviate poverty in rural areas, at RMB0.42/kWh. However, for ordinary solar power projects registered in or prior to 2017, the FIT at the 2017 level will remain applicable if they are connected to the grid and in operation by June 30, 2018, according to a following notice promulgated by the NDRC, the NEA and the Ministry of Finance effective on October 10, 2018.
On January 7, 2019, the NDRC and the NEA jointly promulgated the Circular on Actively Promoting Subsidy-free Grid Price Parity for Wind Power and PV Power, which set forth several measures regarding project organization, construction, operation and supervision to promote PV power generation power projects with grid price equivalent to or below the benchmark grid price of coal-fired power units.
On April 28, 2019, the NDRC promulgated the Notice on Improving Several Issues of the On-grid Price Mechanism for PV Power Generation, or Notice 761, which aims to improve the grid-price mechanism for centralized PV projects and changes the on-grid electricity price for centralized PV power plants from benchmark prices to guidance prices. Notice 761 stipulates that the guidance prices for new centralized PV power plants in resource zones I, II and III that are included in the scope of national financial subsidies are determined as RMB0.40/0.45/0.55/kWh, while for the village-level PV poverty alleviation power stations included in the national renewable-energy-electricity-price additional funds subsidy catalog, the corresponding I-III resource area on-grid electricity prices remain unchanged as RMB0.65/0.75/0.85/kWh.
On May 10, 2019, the NDRC and the NEA jointly promulgated the Notice on Establishing and Perfecting Renewable-Energy-Power Consumption Guarantee Mechanism, and decided to set the weight of renewable-energy-power consumption responsibility for each provincial administrative region, and establish and improve the renewable energy power consumption guarantee mechanism, with an effective period of 5 years.