BEIJING, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) — China will lower the benchmark on-grid prices of electricity generated by new onshore wind farms and solar PV power plants in a bid to facilitate orderly development of the country’s new energy industry, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Thursday.

The benchmark on-grid prices of onshore wind power will be lowered by 0.02 yuan/kWh in the first, second and third-class regions and 0.01 yuan/kWh in the fourth-class region in 2016. The prices will be further cut by 0.03 and 0.02 yuan/kWh respectively in 2018.

The benchmark on-grid prices of solar PV power will be slashed by 0.1 yuan/kWh in the first-class region, 0.07 yuan/kWh in the second-class region and 0.02 yuan/kWh in the third-class region in 2016.

In addition, power grid companies will purchase electricity from eligible rooftop distributional solar PV projects at prices equal to the benchmark on-grid prices of local solar PV power plants. (Edited by Huang Xiaolan, huangxiaolan@xinhua.org)

Editor  Xuefei Chen Axelsson