After being hit by investigations from the United States and the European Union regarding illegal dumping and subsidy issues, Chinese exporters of solar power technology are turning its sights towards Japan as the country attempts to switch to more renewable sources of energy.
Ever since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, the Japanese government has taken drastic measures in ridding itself of the reliance on nuclear energy and has created incentives for the development and use of renewable sources of energy. One such incentive is a feed-in tariff system under which a solar power station get 42 yen ($0.50 U.S.) or 3.3 yuan per kilowatt-hour which is 2.3 yuan ($0.40 U.S.) higher than the current price offered in China. About 1.5 gigawatt (1,500 megawatt) solar power projects have received subsidy qualifications between July and September this year, which is expected to account for 60 percent of Tokyo’s total solar power installations from July 2012 to March 2013.
Chinese solar energy companies, such as Chaori Solar, already exported as much as 50 megawatts of solar power components to Japan this year, accounting for 10 percent of the companies exports. Gu Chendong, the company’s secretary, believes that the numbers will double in 2013. He believes, like many other Chinese companies, that the Japanese solar power market is still growing and is a very good opportunity for exporters, as Japan’s solar energy capacity is only 1 gigawatt (1,000 megawatts). Chinese companies, however, might be facing a rough road ahead due to rigid certification requirements and fierce competition from other companies.
[ via Morning Whistle ]