Workers work at Asia's first solar thermal tower power station under construction in Yanqing in Beijing, China on Wednesday, June 30, 2010. With an investment of 120 million yuan, the solar thermal tower power plant will achieve grid at the end of this year and has an annual capacity of 2.7 million kwh of electricity, equivalent to eliminating 2,300 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from conventional power plants.(Photo By Liang Baohai/Color China Photo/AP Images) Photo: Liang Baohai/ColorChinaPhoto

China makes surprise cut to Golden Sun solar subsidies

China has cut the subsidies offered to demonstration solar projects under its Golden Sun programme by 21% following the steep drop in the cost of equipment.

3 May 2012 11:23 GMT Updated 23 September 2016 11:54 GMT

By Dominique Patton, Singapore

The tariffs will be 5.5 yuan ($0.87) a watt, down from the 7 yuan set in February, according to a statement on the Ministry of Finance website.

The reduction in subsidy surprised the market and could deter some developers from completing their projects, says Ray Lian, analyst at research firm Solarbuzz.

The Golden Sun programme was launched in 2009 to boost China’s use of solar power.

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