China installed its highest solar power capacity for a single month in May, according to official data, which showed mind-boggling figures that the country installed more solar capacity in a month than any other nation did for the entire 2024.
With 93 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity installed in May, China smashed its own record of 71 GW in December 2024, per data from the National Energy Administration cited by Bloomberg.
The 93 GW in May means that the Chinese capacity additions last month were more than the solar panels installed in any other country in the world in the full year 2024, according to BloombegNEF estimates.
However, solar installations are set to slow this month and in July, due to new policies in the Chinese market that would take time for supply and demand to adjust.
China’s solar capacity additions in May were rushed ahead of a new government policy – effective June 1 – to remove pricing protection for solar power projects. Under these protections, solar projects had all but guaranteed profits when they start operations.
Another new rule, effective May 1, made connecting rooftop panels to the grid more difficult.
These new policies are expected to moderate the growth in solar power additions this summer, analysts say.
The slowdown could further hit China’s solar panel manufacturers, which have been struggling for more than a year with overcapacity and price wars.
All top Chinese solar equipment producers booked losses for the first quarter of the year, and blamed the continued losses on low product prices and the trade and tariff turbulence with the new U.S. President Donald Trump.
Earlier in 2024, the China Photovoltaic Industry Association said that China urgently needs consolidation in the solar manufacturing industry as overcapacity and price wars are leading local companies to a race to the bottom.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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