China to increase solar power generation by nearly 70% this year

China plans to install around 17.8GW of solar power in the country within this year to derive more of its energy requirements from renewable sources.

National Energy Administration (NEA) has announced the revised targets for 2015, which is almost 70% more than its previous year’s solar installations of 10.52GW, reports Reuters.

In February, the firm had proclaimed to increase its solar portfolio by 15GW this year. The revised goal is nearly 20% more than that.

The renewable drive is in accordance with Beijing’s intention to "stabilise and expand the solar application market" by 2015.

Market shares for the domestic solar companies has been increasing following the announcement, reports Reuters.

Ping An Securities research analyst Zhou Ziguang was quoted by the news agency as saying: "This is good news for the industry.

"The state is hoping to boost solar consumption, although the chance of exceeding the target should not be big."

According to 2013 plans, the country intended to quadruple its solar capacity to 35GW within 2015.

China’s plans, however, have been hindered owing to lack of transmission infrastructure in the country.

Plans for this year enforce the country’s intention to promote distributed solar constructions, which includes installation of rooftop panels and other small-scale set-ups.