China increases PV capacity target to 15GW

China has increased its solar power development target for 2015 by 50% to 15 GW.

This is the second time in 2011 that China has revised its 2015 capacity goal.

Earlier, after the Japanese nuclear power crisis, the figure was doubled to 10GW.

Twelve months ago, China’s installed capacity stood at just 1GW. However, the country’s burgeoning upstream and downstream PV sectors, have seen the government drastically reassess solar’s role in its energy generation portfolio. Several utility-scale projects have recently been completed, and with this number due to rise exponentially in 2012, the NEA expects annual solar power output will reach 20 billion kWh by 2015.