China: Central and State-Owned Enterprises' Solar PV Centralized Procurement Has Truly Changed

SMM Solar PV Flash News

While the photovoltaic industry remains mired in a relentless race to the bottom over per-watt pricing, centralized procurement by central and state-owned enterprises is quietly replacing the traditional price-bidding benchmark.

In 2025, when State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) for the first time established a dedicated 23.8% efficiency tier in its centralized procurement, the scale was limited to just 2 GW, yet it sent a clear signal. This signal was further amplified in 2026 by China Huaneng Group, SPIC, Longyuan Power, and China Three Gorges Corporation, as efficiency shifted from a “pilot item” in isolated tiers to a structural variable in centralized procurement rules.

Core Metrics Shift from Power to Efficiency

For a long time, module tenders focused solely on rated power. Companies competed for orders by lowering the price per watt, making "low-price winning bids" the norm. Today, conversion efficiency has increasingly become a key entry criterion for centralized procurement of photovoltaic modules by central and state-owned enterprises.

In December 2025, Huaneng’s 6 GW photovoltaic module framework agreement procurement was restarted after the initial tender was terminated, with critical adjustments made to the plan. Specifically, the plan directly eliminated the original low-efficiency module segment (conversion efficiency below 23.1%). The combined scale of the two medium-efficiency segments (conversion efficiency above 23.1% but below 23.8%) was reduced from 3 GW to 2.5 GW, while the estimated procurement capacity for high-efficiency modules (conversion efficiency of 23.8% or above) was increased from 2.5 GW to 3.5 GW. On May 9, 2026, the project’s winning candidate list was published: nine companies qualified for the high-efficiency segment, with unit prices ranging from 0.848 to 0.92 yuan per watt, while unit prices for the medium-efficiency segment ranged from 0.806 to 0.88 yuan per watt.

In January 2026, in Huadian Group’s 2026 centralized procurement tender for 8 GW of photovoltaic modules, the scale for N-type high-efficiency modules (conversion efficiency ≥ 23.8%) was 6 GW, and the procurement scale for N-type standard modules (conversion efficiency ≥ 22.8%) was 2 GW. In Huadian’s second batch of module centralized procurement, the volume for standard modules with a conversion efficiency of 23.2% or above was 5 GW.

In October 2026, Longyuan Power’s first batch of 3 GW module centralized procurement for 2026 was amended, with the scale halved from 6 GW to 3 GW, but the efficiency tiers were raised. Specifically, 500 MW of medium-efficiency modules with a front-side photoelectric conversion efficiency of 23.2% were procured, while 2.5 GW of high-efficiency modules with a front-side photoelectric conversion efficiency of 24.0% or above were procured.

Three Gorges Group went further by incorporating national standards directly into its bidding documents. According to Three Gorges Group’s 2027 photovoltaic module centralized procurement announcement, it explicitly requires the procurement of photovoltaic modules meeting GB 47834 Energy Efficiency Class 3 or higher, with an estimated total procurement capacity of 5.24 GW.

Among the three projects with disclosed scales (Huaneng 6 GW, Huadian 8 GW, and Longyuan 3 GW, totaling 17 GW), the combined volume in the ≥23.8% efficiency tier is approximately 12 GW, accounting for about 71%. By company, Huaneng’s high-efficiency segment accounts for 58.3%, Huadian’s high-efficiency modules account for 75%, and Longyuan’s high-efficiency modules with an efficiency of 24.0% or above account for 83.3%.

The shift from module power to conversion efficiency essentially represents central enterprises moving their procurement benchmark from "initial price per watt" to long-term value. This transition not only accelerates the elimination of outdated production capacity and breaks the industry’s long-standing cycle of low-price competition, but also reestablishes a market pricing mechanism of "premium quality, premium price," allowing high-efficiency products to command a reasonable premium.

The benchmark for centralized procurement has shifted, with BC and TOPCon technologies now competing on the same stage.

The most direct trigger is the implementation schedule of mandatory national standards. In June 2026, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Standardization Administration of China jointly issued GB 47834—2026, "Minimum Energy Efficiency Limits and Energy Efficiency Grades for Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Modules and Inverters," which will be mandatorily enforced starting January 1, 2027.

The new standard classifies module energy efficiency into three tiers. The Tier 3 efficiency threshold is set at 23.2% for TOPCon and HJT, and 23.5% for BC. Tier 1 requires higher performance: 24.0% for TOPCon, 24.2% for BC, and 23.8% for HJT. Beyond conversion efficiency, the standard also sets requirements for bifaciality (no less than 75% for TOPCon, no less than 85% for HJT, and no less than 70% for BC) and coupled environmental stress-induced degradation rates (no higher than 8.6%).

This means that "low efficiency" is no longer a relative concept but a disqualification criterion with legally defined numerical boundaries: starting in 2027, modules that fail to meet Tier 3 energy efficiency standards shall not be produced, imported, or sold.

A deeper driver lies in the shift in the industry's "anti-involution" governance logic. In the past, capacity reduction relied on voluntary production cuts by enterprises, yielding limited results. Today, energy efficiency thresholds directly define entry barriers, compressing the survival space for low-efficiency capacity at the source. Based on the power output of mainstream products and the potential for production line technical upgrades, Huatai Securities estimates that the new national standard’s Tier 3 requirements will eliminate a combined 310 GW of TOPCon and HJT module capacity, representing a 31% reduction.

Regulations for new projects are also tightening. The draft "Regulatory Conditions for the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Industry (2026 Edition)" released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in October 2026 stipulates that the average photovoltaic conversion efficiency for newly built n-type TOPCon modules, HJT modules, and xBC modules (calculated based on front-side efficiency for bifacial modules) must be no less than 24.2%, 24.0%, and 24.4%, respectively. This forms a dual constraint of "existing capacity elimination and new capacity tightening" alongside the mandatory energy efficiency national standard.

Another major change in tendering rules is the dismantling of technology route barriers, placing TOPCon and BC modules in the same competitive pool.

Previously, the vast majority of centralized procurement tenders separated TOPCon and BC into two independent lots, with no cross-competition between the two routes. With ample TOPCon capacity and numerous bidding companies, price competition was particularly fierce. In contrast, BC capacity was limited, with few participating manufacturers, resulting in consistently higher bid prices.

Taking China Energy Engineering’s 2026 annual module centralized procurement as an example: the two TOPCon lots attracted 30 and 31 bidders, respectively, with unit prices ranging from 0.69 to 0.77 yuan/W and an average bid of approximately 0.72 yuan/W. The BC lot had only nine qualified bidders, with bid prices rising to 0.76–0.788 yuan/W, a significant price gap.

However, when tenders are divided solely by conversion efficiency, the rules effectively eliminate the distinction between TOPCon and BC routes. In Huaneng’s 6 GW centralized procurement, Lot 3 (high-efficiency modules ≥23.8%, scale 3.5 GW) had nine candidate companies, with qualified unit prices ranging from 0.848 to 0.92 yuan/W. Compared to the medium-efficiency lot (0.806–0.88 yuan/W), the overall price center shifted significantly upward.

Looking at the winning bids announced in May, the previous low prices of 0.848 yuan/W and 0.870 yuan/W did not secure contracts. LONGi and GCL System Integration won bids with prices exceeding 0.9 yuan/W, indicating that even under direct competition, BC retains a certain premium. This also demonstrates that after "efficiency upgrades," centralized procurement by central and state-owned enterprises still weighs capacity maturity, historical delivery performance, and brand credibility.

With less than two months remaining until the implementation of the mandatory national standard, conversion efficiency is no longer just a parameter in product brochures for enterprises; it has become the entry threshold that determines whether they can even be considered for a bid. For the industry, as an increasing number of tenders incorporate “conversion efficiency” as a prerequisite, the era of “winning bids at the lowest price” may not end immediately, but the era of “winning bids with low efficiency” is indeed coming to an end.