According to Politico, if policymakers don't intervene quickly to protect European companies, Chinese manufacturers could soon consolidate their dominance in the European solar market.
Europe has set aside billions of euros to significantly increase its reliance on solar panels for power generation, and the continent's rush to go green has led to cheaper Chinese products benefiting from Chinese subsidies. dependence is increasing. according to To Politico. That dependence, in turn, seriously undermines the small number of companies in Europe that specialize in producing solar products, and unless authorities take decisive action to support the industry, Europe's solar manufacturing base will remain It could virtually disappear within a week.
“The situation is really, really, really troubling,” Johan Lindahl, executive director of the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC), told Politico. “Without strong political signals, we could lose a large part of European industry in the coming months.” (Related: Germany went all in on the green transition. Now the economy is collapsing)
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China, which dominates the supply chain for the raw materials and refining needed to mass produce green energy products, now controls about 80% of the world's solar manufacturing capacity, according to Politico. State subsidies and low labor costs give Chinese solar products a clear cost advantage over their European competitors, with some European solar products priced at almost 3. It has doubled.
According to Politico, only 3% of the solar panels installed across Europe in 2023 will be produced in Europe. Some companies have already gone out of business, including Dutch solar panel maker Exasun and Austria's Energetic, which made solar modules.
Lithuania's center-right lawmaker Liudas Majlis told Politico: “Our market is being attacked by cheap imports from third countries supported by huge subsidies.” He said: “We must think about providing urgent support to solar manufacturers.”
The European Union (EU) wants to significantly expand domestic solar production and deployment by 2030. around S&P Global. Therefore, EU officials may be hesitant to try to exclude China from the solar power market, fearing backtracking on climate change and the possibility of retaliatory protectionism by China. Politico reported that.
According to Politico, the solar industry is asking European authorities to take measures such as loosening rules on government share buybacks and state aid for solar power development, and introducing new rules for green projects that clearly favor European companies. We are lobbying to pursue this.
“[The] “The situation is alarming… There is a clear trade imbalance and dependence on China here,” an anonymous official from an EU member state told Politico. But “tariffs on China are probably a bad idea…We need to start making strategic choices. Maybe solar power isn't the battle we should be fighting.”
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