China will not approve wind and solar power projects unless they can compete with coal power prices. China stopped subsidizing large scale solar projects in May, 2018. This was reported by John Parnell at Forbes.
China’s leaders did not like Chinese companies building overseas solar projects overseas at prices far below what they were charging within China.
In 2017, 12% of wind generation and 6% of solar wasted because the power grid could not use the generated power
New solar and wind renewable power projects will have to show that the grid can handle their output and that the price will be lower than coal. Local governments have been told they are free to offer their own subsidies to projects if they wish.
China had provided subsidies of $15.6 billion in 2017 and was on track to subsidize renewables for $39 billion in 2020. However, the new requirements mean that solar and wind will have installations without non-local subsidies in China.
Solar and wind installations are still expected but at a slower rate of growth. The overall price of solar panels will likely increase over the next two years because of consolidation in the industry. Smaller companies will be killed or bought by larger companies.
Over half of the solar and wind will be installed in China, India and the USA.