China may double target for solar power capacity

Shanghai: China may double the target set for power generated from solar energy over the next five years in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, the official China Securities Journal reported Wednesday.

Citing official sources, the newspaper said the government may look at a new target of having installed capacity of 10 gigawatts (GW) of photovoltaic (PV) power by 2015, double its existing target of 5 GW.

The new target may also help offset the loss that may occur from a scaling down of an overly ambitious nuclear power generation programme. 

The reports come even as China Electricity Council (CEC), an industry body, is reported as asking the government to lower its nuclear capacity target for 2020 and scale back reactor construction in interior regions, the China Business News reported Monday.

China led the world in clean-energy investment last year, ahead of Germany and the United States, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts released this week.

It is also the world's largest exporter of photovoltaic products and home to some of the industry's top players, such as Trina Solar, JA Solar, Suntech Power and LDK Solar.