EU may launch solar energy import investigation

On November 29, more than 400 solar energy companies in Europe launched a joint appeal to urge policy makers to stop the trade investigation that may lead to the EU imposing tariffs on imported solar products.

Before making this appeal, the head of the solar energy industry, state ministers and EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton will hold a meeting on Friday to evaluate the measures to bring production back to Europe.

Walburga hemetsberger, CEO of solarpower Europe, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association, said: "before the industry round table on Friday, we received worrying signals that the measure will include the investigation of import and export restrictions."

European solar power companies participating in the joint appeal said that the signatories included 18 manufacturers and 28 national associations and research institutions. All parties agreed that tariff restrictions should not include imported photovoltaic products.

The goal of the European Union is to reach 600 gigawatts of solar energy installed capacity by 2030, about three times that of 2022. The deployment needs to be significantly accelerated. The group said tariffs would only slow the process. They also expressed support for restructuring some solar manufacturing industries to achieve the EU's goal of 30GW capacity by 2025.

Previously, the EU set restrictions on the import of solar panels, batteries and silicon wafers from 2013 to 2018 in China. Now, more than 90% of silicon wafers and components come from China.

The EU has launched a countervailing investigation on China's electric vehicles and will review foreign subsidies in the wind power industry to ensure that clean technology manufacturing is carried out in Europe and reduce dependence on China. (this article is compiled from news247, please indicate the source for reprint)

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