China sets solar power target for 2014

China's central energy authority unveiled its photovoltaic (PV) development targets for 2014 on Tuesday, vowing to install 13 gigawatts of new PV power capacity this year.

Wu Xinxiong, head of the National Energy Administration (NEA), said China will strive to secure the target by supporting the development of distributed PV power generation.

The target is more ambitious than the State Council guideline released in July 2013, which outlined plans to install 10 gigawatts of PV power capacity every year from 2013 to 2015.

To boost the sagging solar power industry, China has turned to distributed PV power generation and rolled out a string of preferential policies, including subsidies and tax reduction.

Wu said the NEA is mulling new measures but did not give details. He also encouraged local governments to further facilitate the development of distributed solar power generation.