The game of guessing just how many solar panels China will use in its energy mix has continued this week, but almost all estimates fall below the level of purchases for the past two years, about 8 GW down on 2018. The latest announcement from the National Development & Reform Commission and National Energy Administration suggests that China has what it wanted all along, and that is renewables which can compete with coal and gas on an equal footing. The first batch of such contracts awarded this week include 14.8 GW of solar and 4.5 GW of wind capacity and these projects were prioritized ahead of any subsidized contracts appearing later in the year. What this has done has starved…