Greentech Lead Asia: Thailand is forecast to be the largest solar PV market in emerging Asia Pacific and Central Asia(EAPCA), according to the latest report from NPD Solarbuzz.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) demand from EAPCA region is forecast to exceed 3 gigawatts (GW) by 2017, growing at a strong compound annual growth rate of 28 percent from 723Â MW in 2012.
The market is driven by the growing adoption of solar PV for large-scale, ground -mounted PV installations. By 2017, the ground mount segment will account for 64 percent of all PV demand from the EAPCA region.
Solar PV demand across the EAPCA region remains highly fragmented and is characterized by a diverse range of policies and end-market drivers, which is consistent with PV industry adoption in other emerging markets.
Southeast Asia region is widely recognized as a leading hub for upstream manufacturing.
Solar PV demand across the region will be dominated by Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Taiwan. Between 2013 and 2017, these five countries will account for 50 percent of the cumulative PV demand forecast from the EAPCA region, according to the report.
Thailand is forecast to be the region’s largest market. The growth in this region is driven by rapid growth in demand for electricity and the requirement to decrease its financial burden from imported energy.
Indonesia is forecast to become the second largest solar PV market within the Southeast Asia region by 2017, supported by forthcoming feed-in-tariff incentives. The country has long-term plans for solar power to provide 0.3 percent of the national energy mix by 2025, equivalent to 1Â GW of new solar demand. Taiwan and South Korea have also prioritized solar PV within their renewable energy targets.
The Philippines accumulated more than 500 MW within its solar PV pipeline at the end of 2012, with strong investments coming from Japan and South Korea. Bangladesh has developed a large off-grid PV market with plans to install an additional one million solar PV systems by 2016. Kazakhstan is targeting 77Â MW of solar power generation over the next few years, and Pakistan has announced over 500Â MW of solar deployment.
The research forecasts EAPCA region will account for 5 percent of global PV demand by 2017, with the potential to reach 5Â GW. One of the challenges facing this market is the difficulty securing solar PV project financing, according to the report.