Production Shutdown At Risk! Several European PV CEOs Call For Urgent Action To Save Local Manufacturing

The chief executives of First Solar, BayWa r.e. and Meyer Burger have written to the European Commission calling for urgent action to support the redevelopment of European photovoltaic manufacturing.

In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen yesterday, the chief executives of 12 European and US companies said that developing a strong European solar manufacturing value chain and reducing reliance on imports "would significantly underpin" the Commission's energy security objectives.

They highlighted a recent report by the International Energy Agency. The report found that China has invested ten times more than Europe in new PV supply capacity since 2011, meaning that China's share of all PV module manufacturing stages, including polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells and modules, exceeds 80%.

In the letter, signed by the CEO of trade body SolarPower Europe, the signatories state that "there is an urgent need for ambitious and accelerated financial support for large PV manufacturing projects in Europe, together with competitive cost support measures for the entire supply chain, especially for energy-intensive polysilicon, ingot and wafer production."

They noted that these measures highlight the need for Europe to take stronger action to accelerate its participation in global competition in the solar PV value chain.

The signatories point to the US Inflation Deflation Act as evidence of the US ambition to return to the clean energy sector and add that this legislation provides clear, tangible operating costs and capital expenditure benefits, guaranteeing predictable operational support for almost a decade. 50GW of US solar made locally by 2030!

The signatories also highlighted an innovative tender design in India, one that provides clear direction for the solar industry. India recently released its second round of guidelines for incentive schemes, an approach that aims to increase PV module capacity by 65GW.

In order to ensure that Europe competes strongly in the globally diversified solar supply chain, the signatories urged the European Commission to replicate the EU Chip Bill for solar PV technology. This bill aims to increase Europe's share of global chip capacity to 20% from the current level of around 10%.

The CEO also called for a boost to solar PV capacity in the National Resilience and Recovery Plan, which is part of NextGenerationEU, the EU's response to the challenges posed to the European economy by COVID-19 and the EU's preparation for the green and digital transformation.

The proposals follow an alert issued last week. The warnings say that photovoltaic manufacturing projects across Europe are at risk of being shut down due to soaring electricity prices. Consulting firm Rystad Energy said the energy-intensive nature of the solar PV manufacturing process had led some operators to temporarily close or abandon their production plants.

Maxeon Solar Technologies has since confirmed to PV Tech that it has closed a PV module manufacturing plant in France, citing a challenging pricing environment.