China's solar power use surges

China's on-grid solar power capacity will amount to 10 million kilowatts (kw) by the end of 2013, a 200-percent jump from that seen a year ago, the National Energy Administration (NEA) forecast on Wednesday.

Total installed power generation capacity is likely to reach 1.235 billion kw by the year end, the NEA said in an online statement.

The share of thermal power generation capacity is predicted to drop to 69.6 percent from the 71.5 percent at the end of 2012, while that of hydropower, on-grid wind power and nuclear power are expected to stand at 22.5 percent, 6.1 percent, 1.2 percent, respectively.

To meet the target of cutting energy use per unit of gross domestic product by 16 percent by 2015 from 2011 levels, China has taken a number of measures, including increasing investment in clean energy to boost the share of non-fossil fuels in its power structure.

In the first 10 months of 2013, China added 35.95 million kw of new energy and renewable energy installed capacity, double that during the same period a year ago, according to the NEA.