Electrical Equipment / Components & Telecoms

As the leader of the global photovoltaic industry, China should cooperate with the international community to jointly initiate and formulate relevant regulations to provide strong support for China's photovoltaic international trade exports to the world.

In the face of the energy crisis caused by geopolitics, extreme climate and other factors, the European Commission has recently made plans in succession to prepare for building in the photovoltaic field. On October 11, the European Commission announced on its official website that it had officially approved the establishment of a new solar photovoltaic industry alliance to accelerate the deployment of solar power generation facilities throughout the EU. The latest research shows that the EU's "ambitious" photovoltaic layout faces the risk of being shelved due to the rise in energy prices and manufacturing costs. On the one hand, the EU has a high demand for photovoltaic, and on the other hand, the rising local manufacturing costs have highlighted the advantages of China's photovoltaic industry in terms of scale and low cost, which also provides a platform for China's photovoltaic international trade enterprises to further develop in Europe.

On October 10, European Commission President Von Delain publicly stated at the EU Digital Summit that the EU would accelerate the transformation of renewable and clean energy in order to get rid of dependence on Russian energy as soon as possible. It is reported that the EU has formulated two detailed plans for this. According to Reuters, the draft of the EU's forthcoming "Digital Energy System Plan" requires that solar panels be installed on the roofs of all commercial and public buildings in the EU by 2027; By 2029, solar panels will also be installed on all new residential buildings in the EU. In May this year, the EU issued an energy plan called "REPowerEU", which also mentioned the EU's layout of photovoltaic facilities. According to the plan, the total PV installed capacity of the EU will reach 320 GW in 2025 and 600 GW in 2030. It can be seen that in the process of EU's pursuit of "energy freedom", the importance of solar power generation is self-evident.

Wang Yuanfeng, director of the Center for Carbon Neutralization Technology and Strategy Research of Beijing Jiaotong University, said: "Europe is experiencing the 'pain' of the energy crisis, and solar power has played a significant role in supplementing local energy. In the long run, the large-scale deployment of solar power has also accelerated the transformation of renewable energy in Europe."

However, it is unavoidable that the European photovoltaic industry is facing cost pressure. The research of Rystad Energy, an energy consulting agency, found that due to the rise in electricity prices, the manufacturing costs of the local photovoltaic industry in Europe increased significantly, so about 35 GW of photovoltaic manufacturing projects faced the risk of being shelved. Rystad Energy also said that due to the rise in operating costs, energy intensive enterprises in the local photovoltaic industry chain have temporarily closed their production lines, which also led to the risk of failure in financing related projects.

At the same time, China's solar energy equipment exports to Europe are "shining brightly". It is reported that China is currently the largest exporter of PV modules, and Europe is also the largest export market of China's PV modules.

According to the data of China Photovoltaic Industry Association, in the first half of 2022, the total export volume of China's photovoltaic modules in international trade reached 78.6 gigawatts, and the export volume of modules reached US $22.02 billion, a sharp year-on-year increase of 116.1%, of which the export volume to Europe was more than half. "The advantages of China's photovoltaic industry are becoming increasingly prominent. Compared with Europe, China is more competitive in technology, industry scale, manufacturing costs and other aspects. Most importantly, China's photovoltaic industry has more production experience and practical experience, which will help Chinese international trade enterprises better enter the European photovoltaic market." Wang Yuanfeng said.

He also proposed that Chinese enterprises should be vigilant in the face of the blue ocean market. First of all, at the trade level, Chinese international trade enterprises should prepare for possible "anti-monopoly" measures and avoid passive situations. Secondly, at the geopolitical level, it has been said that Europe should not rely on China's PV, otherwise it will be like relying on Russian energy. Therefore, Chinese photovoltaic enterprises should also be prepared for the influence of geopolitics. In terms of technology, China should also avoid being "stuck" by Europe and the United States. The most important thing is that China's photovoltaic industry needs to reduce the carbon emissions of the entire industry chain to avoid being "encircled" by the European "carbon footprint" regulations that may be implemented in the future. As the leader of the global photovoltaic industry, China should cooperate with the international community to jointly initiate and formulate relevant regulations to provide strong support for China's photovoltaic exports to the world.