Qingdao New Energy Solutions Inc. (NESI) in partnership with Qingdao City Construction Investment Group, China Development Bank, and China Everbright Bank has established China’s first special fund for photovoltaic (PV) agriculture investment, construction and operation.

 

The 10 billion yuan (US$1.56 billion) fund will invest in approximately 1 GW of photovoltaic agricultural projects, and will likely scale up to 3 GW in the future according to a source with Qingdao City Construction Investment Group.

 

China has seen a rapid expansion of PV agricultural greenhouses in recent years. The projects combine technologies from the photovoltaic industry and controlled-environment agriculture – giving greater potential scale for PV power station construction while not needing to change the original use for agricultural land. PV agricultural greenhouse projects have grown to become a key utilization of PV technologies in China, accounting for approximately 30% of all recorded PV projects in the country for the first half of 2015.