UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Fighting back as Chinese imports push EU solar industry to brink of collapse
14/2/2024
10 min read
Feature
The European Union’s (EU) solar panel manufacturing industry is under intense pressure from a glut of cheap Chinese imports. It is calling for urgent action to prop up the domestic EU supply chain to prevent bankruptcies and relocation of solar panel makers to south-east Asia and the US. Sara Lewis reports from Brussels.
The EU is 97% dependent on solar panel imports, mainly from China, according to Mairead McGuinness, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, in a statement in early February to the European Parliament on the ‘state of the EU solar industry in light of unfair competition’.
‘Global oversupply and a surge of imports into the EU has put under strong pressure [European] solar supply chains,’ said McGuiness. For buyers and consumers, however, this is good news – given that solar panel prices have plummeted by over 40%.
However, McGuinness stressed that the EU was not giving up on developing European solar panel manufacturing, highlighting support programmes for the solar industry, notably via its EU solar energy strategy (May 2022), which targets more than 320 GW of installed solar photovoltaics (PV) by 2025 and almost 600 GW by 2030. While imports are key here, the strategy includes a private-public EU skills partnership to train and upskill workers in manufacturing as well as installation management. It also includes the EU Solar PV Industry Alliance which is aiming for 30 GW of annual European solar PV manufacturing capacity by 2025.