Europe is installing more solar panels than ever before, thanks to an influx of cheap solar panels from China, which accounted for 40% of installations last year. But this comes at a cost: local solar producers face total collapse, which could occur within weeks.
According to the International Energy Agency, the European Union is reviewing what steps it can take to ensure that around 95% of solar panels and components used in the EU come from China, Reuters reported.
Do you get all these green energy benefits by transporting containers full of Chinese solar panels, while destroying domestic industry and putting many people out of business?
“The situation is indeed very worrying,” said Johan Lindahl, Secretary General of the European Solar Energy Council ( ESMC ).
Local solar panel manufacturers in Europe are experiencing a crisis because they are unable to compete with cheap and oversupplied imported products. Companies are closing their doors as warehouses across Europe face the “voraciousness” of Chinese panels, Reuters reported earlier last year. The sector has warned that half of its capacity could be shut within weeks unless the government takes drastic action – such as tariffs.
But not everyone likes it. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has written to the EU and stated that tariffs on Chinese imports could halt Europe's impressive green energy expansion and make 90% of the photovoltaic market more expensive.
“I have heard that the Commission may implement safeguard measures against imports of photovoltaic (PV) modules from China. “I have very serious concerns about this,” the letter said, according to Reuters.
Habeck added that the move would also harm European companies that assemble and install solar panels with Chinese components.
All of this was a bitter pill for France, which had high hopes. For the reindustrialization of green energy in Europe. Germany's solar power aid is in jeopardy due to a budget crisis, while Spain will not eliminate tariffs on solar panel imports. A Dutch government spokesman told Reuters the country “wants to cover imports of solar photovoltaics.” Energy with CO2 tax at EU borders
. “Italy announced an investment of 90 million euros in a solar power plant in Sicily.
The EU'sproposed
measuresinclude faster approvals for local manufacturers and legislation to give preference to EU products in “future green technology proposals”.
Trade restrictions are important – especially considering the EU plans to create more than 320 GW of new PV capacity by 2025 and 600 GW by 2030 – and will likely require Chinese PV to achieve this goal.
Last September, the EU launched an investigation into China's electric vehicle industry as European companies struggled to compete with imports of cheap, high-tech, low-cost and labor-intensive Chinese electric vehicles into the EU. The EU is investigating an inappropriate campaign of subsidies and bank loans from Beijing that has fueled China's excessive growth, raising concerns that China is building electric vehicle factories that are not growing at the scale needed to meet domestic demand. Meanwhile, the US and Europe tightened regulations on the sale of Chinese cars and electric vehicle parts in their countries, with US tariffs so high that China shifted its focus to other regions such as South America, Asia and Europe.
Meanwhile, some panel makers in Europe say China is doing the same with solar panels. “China's solar industry has been strategically subsidized to the tune of billions of dollars for years,” Günther Erfurt, CEO of Swiss photovoltaic systems maker Meyer Berger, told Reuters.
Europe can't keep up at the moment – and at least give them more time to catch up.
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