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China, India Lead Global Solar Expansion as Costs Fall

India and China are driving a rapid global expansion in large-scale, solar power developments.

China, India Lead Global Solar Expansion as Costs Fall
People walk past solar panels mounted on the roof of a building, part of a solar power microgrid, in the village of Dharnai in Jehanabad, Bihar. (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- India and China are driving a rapid global expansion in large-scale, solar power developments as the cost of building new projects falls, according to an analysis by Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

“Solar energy is taking an increasingly prominent role in driving the ongoing transformation of global electricity generation markets alongside gains in storage, wind, hydroelectricity and energy efficiency,” IEEFA said in a report.

The world’s largest operating utility-scale solar projects are concentrated in China and India, according to IEEFA. Based on company and press reports, as well as its own estimates, those include:

RankingProject NameSize MWCountryProponent 
1Tengger Desert Solar Park1,547ChinaChina National Grid Zhongwei Power Supply Co
2Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park1,000IndiaAndhra Pradesh Solar Power Corporation Pvt Ltd
3Datong Solar Power Top Runner Base1,000ChinaMultiple
4Yanchi Ningxia Solar Park1,000ChinaHuawei Technologies Co
5Longyangxia Dam Solar Park850ChinaState Power Investment Corporation (China)
6Adani Kamuthi Solar Plant648IndiaAdani Green
7Solar Star579U.S.BHE Renewables
8Topaz Solar Farm550U.S.First Solar
9Desert Sunlight Solar Farm550U.S.NextEra Energy, GE Energy Financial & Sumitomo
10Nova Olinda Solar Farm292BrazilEnel Green Power

China added 53 gigawatts of the 98 gigawatts of new solar capacity built last year, a 31 percent increase from the total 2016, IEEFA said, citing Bloomberg New Energy Finance data. Meanwhile, the per unit cost of electricity over the life of a generating asset fell 15 percent year-on-year to $86 a megawatt hour.

China, India Lead Global Solar Expansion as Costs Fall

To contact the reporter on this story: Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at cwatanabe5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net, Aaron Clark

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.