2024-02-05 18:31:18
A field of photovoltaic panels in Braine l’Alleud, Belgium. ERIC LALMAND/AFP
DECRYPTION – Several producers announce closures, drowned out by massive Chinese competition.
An electroshock? In mid-January, Meyer Burger, a Swiss manufacturer of solar panels, threatened to close its production site in Freiberg, Germany, one of the largest in Europe, opened only three years ago, by April. 500 jobs at stake. “The deterioration of the market environment in Europe makes the continuation of large-scale solar production immediately unsustainable», justified the company.
Instead, it plans to develop its activity in the United States, thanks to “support for industrial policies“, notably the generous subsidies and tax credits of the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act), implemented by Joe Biden a year and a half ago. The final decision on the closure of the Freiberg plant is expected to be made by the end of February.
Also read: Parking lots, highways, public buildings… France soon to be covered with solar panels made in China?
There is an uproar in Berlin, where discussions are being held with the Ministry of the Economy to try to avoid this, as well as in Brussels, where the Commission is looking, a little late, at the fate of the industry …
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