Focusing on the new energy industry: sustained strong demand for photovoltaics

Introduction: This week, the prices of polycrystalline silicon raw materials, polycrystalline silicon wafers, battery cells, and battery modules have changed by 1.09%, 0.48%, 0.93%, and -0.18% compared to the previous week. The cumulative price changes of various products from the beginning of the year are 29.2%, -3.8%, 1.6%, and -9.4%.

China Europe Photovoltaic Price Commitment remains unchanged

Event: A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce recently revealed that on November 4th, the European Commission believed that the current benchmark price, including Chinese prices, in the agreement between China and Europe, could reflect the overall situation of global photovoltaic product prices and did not need to be changed. In view of this, the European Commission plans to terminate the mid-term review investigation of the minimum price adjustment mechanism for photovoltaic cases in China and Europe.

Comment: Maintaining the original agreement's photovoltaic pricing standards is more advantageous for China and will enhance the market competitiveness of Chinese products in Europe. In 2015, the value of photovoltaic products exported from China to Europe exceeded 2 billion US dollars, making it the third largest photovoltaic export market after Japan and the United States.

The utilization hours of wind turbines continue to decline in October

Event: From January to October, the total electricity consumption in China was 4583.5 billion kilowatt hours, a year-on-year increase of 0.7%, with a year-on-year decline of 3.0 percentage points. Among them, the wind power generation was 150.5 billion kilowatt hours, a year-on-year increase of 23.1%, with a year-on-year increase of 13.4 percentage points. At the end of October, the cumulative grid connected capacity of wind power was 110.6 GW, of which 14.8 GW was added in the same year. The cumulative utilization hours of wind power from January to October were 1473, a year-on-year decrease of 33 hours. Among them, the utilization hours in October were 156, a year-on-year decrease of 10 hours.

Comment: The decrease in wind power utilization hours this year is mainly due to the worsening of wind curtailment and power restrictions. The regions with the most severe wind curtailment are Xinjiang and Gansu, which have the largest installed capacity. Due to the downward adjustment of wind power grid prices in these regions next year, the sudden increase in installed capacity this year is expected to be faster. We expect that with the commissioning of high-voltage transmission channels next year, the phenomenon of wind curtailment and power restrictions will be weakened.

The prices of silicon wafers and battery cells continued to rise this week

This week, the prices of polycrystalline silicon raw materials/polycrystalline silicon wafers/battery cells/battery modules have changed by 1.09%/0.48%/0.93%/-0.18% month on month, and the cumulative price changes of various products from the beginning of the year are 29.2%/-3.8%/1.6%/-9.4%. This week, the price of polycrystalline silicon continued to decline slightly, reflecting the impact of severe oversupply. However, domestic prices have stabilized, and the prices of silicon wafers and battery cells have continued the upward trend of the previous 13 weeks. Among them, the prices of battery cells have exceeded the level at the beginning of the year, while module prices have slightly decreased this week. Before the end of the year, the prices of photovoltaic products will remain strong, and the demand in the Chinese and American markets is expected to remain strong in the first half of next year.