Chinese solar developer and plant operator Kong Sun Holdings (Kong Sun) has confirmed ambitious plans to double its solar PV installation base in China next year to around 2.4 GW, having revealed it is on course to add 1 GW of new capacity in 2015.

The Hong Kong-listed solar firm has aggressively expanded into the Chinese solar market over the past year, growing its portfolio to just 70 MW at the beginning of 2015 to close to 1 GW as the year draws to a close.

The firm previously focused its efforts on Chinas real estate sector, but government-backed investment in the nations clean energy transition (The National Energy Administration has set a solar installation target for this year of 17.3 GW) piqued Kong Suns interest in the sector, and has spurred the companys rapid solar growth in 2015.

To fund this expansion, Kong Sun has carried out a series of acquisitions of solar developers, and has also begun developing its own PV projects, eyeing a wider target of installing 6 GW of solar in China by 2019. Total investment required for this capacity expansion is likely to surpass 50 billion yuan ($7.84 billion), according to a Bloomberg interview with Kong Sun executive director, Liu Wenping.

The past couple of years have seen Chinas solar market soar, backed by government initiatives and support. However, industry experts anticipate a slowing of that growth over the next few years as changes to Chinas feed-in tariff (FIT), proposed by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), are introduced through to 2020.

The NDRC is considering reducing the solar power tariff by 5.6% from its current levels next year, and a further 15% by the end of 2020.

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