According to the signing companies the Trade Measures add to the cost of solar and are contributing to slowing down its deployment. “The measures add 100,000s Euros of cost to installations in the region of 10MW and above and around 1000 Euros to household installations. With tenders for large scale solar being driven by price, the trade measures are ensuring that the potential of solar is not being fulfilled in Europe, contrary to the EUs wider renewable energy targets and goals”, the letter states. Signing solar companies are among others BayWa r.e., Goldbeck, GP Joule, IBC Solar, IB Vogt, Lightsource, Martifer, Phoenix Solar or Zimmermann.
Signing companies from all EU Member States
Jochen Hauff, Board Director of SolarPower Europe representing BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH, one of the leaders of the initiative, stated 'The volume of European companies opposed to the trade measures is staggering. Companies have signed from every EU Member State, from all segments of the value chain - including: steel, chemicals, engineering, developers, installers, power sales. European solar SMEs and large corporations are united in the belief that these trade duties must go, and now is the time for the Commission to act and remove them through the ongoing Expiry Review.
Trade measures caused loss also of PV manufacturing jobs
Representing European manufacturing, Christian Westermeier, Board Director of SolarPower Europe, added 'For European manufacturers in the solar value chain the measures have been ruinous and have led to the loss of thousands of jobs in manufacturing. The removal of these trade measures will stimulate growth in European manufacturing all along the solar value chain and support the process of regaining this lost European employment.'
Removal needed to spur solar market growth
Sebastian Berry, Board Director of SolarPower Europe, summed up the feeling of the European solar sector by saying 'The trade measures have been in place for a long time, they have brought only decline to the European solar sector. As a leading European solar company we need the Commission to remove these measures to allow the sector to grow sustainably again. If Europe is serious about leading in renewables, then the solar sector must be allowed to grow again and the European Commission can support this with one easy action - removing the trade measures.'
The case represents the largest ever trade dispute between the EU and China and seriously impacts the possibility for Europe to reach its climate objectives. The Expiry Review into the trade duties placed on solar modules and cells originating in China is currently ongoing and due to be completed by March 2017. (HCN)
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