Oleksandr Ryzhkov)
The European solar industry could face big losses, if policymakers do not implement urgent measures to protect producers of solar photovoltaic modules in the European Union in the coming period, according to the website of the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC).
In January of this year, ESMC appealed to the European Commission to implement emergency measures, saying they needed to be passed within the next two months. Such measures require both active political and financial support.
The key problem is the large supply of subsidized solar PV modules imported from China. There is currently a stock of 140 to 170 million PV modules in European ports and warehouses. The Chinese industry’s strategy is said to have caused module prices to collapse and left European manufacturers with large inventories of unsold products.
As EMSC policy director Zygimantas Vaiciunas said, now is the crucial time in which the European Commission and member states have to decide whether they remain committed to the strategic position that the European Union should not be entirely dependent on imports. According to him, without urgent measures, during the next two months, the European Union will face a loss of more than 50 per cent of the production capacity of modern photovoltaic modules.
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He adds that that risk does not only apply to European manufacturers of solar photovoltaic modules but also more widely, to the industrial goals of the European Union by 2030.
Following this, the European Solar Manufacturing Council requests that the following urgent measures be adopted in the next two months. The first is to establish an EU centre for the purchase of the accumulated stock of EU solar photovoltaic modules. The second implies that the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework should be amended immediately, to facilitate the financing of projects involving solar photovoltaic modules produced in the EU or the operating costs of producers of solar photovoltaic modules in the EU. The third measure is the aster implementation of support elements for solar photovoltaic module manufacturers in the EU, as foreseen by the legislative initiatives of the Net-Zero Industry Act and the Forced Labour Regulation from July 2024, which will create a simplified and efficient system for resilience auctions during the interim period.
The proposed measures should be implemented as an interim package, as explained, to stabilize the current situation regarding the EU producers, but also to prevent further spillover effects on other related sectors. The activation of these measures should facilitate the transitional period of the next two to three years until the aforementioned two legislative initiatives come into force.
As a reminder, as we reported earlier, the European wind industry is in a similar situation as a result of the stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers.
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