Electrical Equipment / Components & Telecoms

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

In the face of the energy crisis caused by geopolitical, extreme climate and other factors, the European Commission has recently formulated plans in succession to prepare for large-scale construction 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. According to the latest research, the "ambitious" PV layout of the EU is facing the risk of being shelved due to the rising energy price and manufacturing costs. On the one hand, the high demand for PV in the EU, and on the other hand, the rising local manufacturing costs have highlighted the scale and low cost advantages of China's PV industry again, which also provides a platform for the further development of China's PV international trading enterprises in Europe.

On October 10, President of the European Commission von der Leyen 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. According to Reuters, the draft of the "energy system digitization plan" to be released by the European Union requires that solar panels will be installed on the roofs of all commercial and public buildings in the European Union before 2027; By 2029, solar panels will also be installed on all new residential buildings in the European Union. In May this year, the European Union released an energy plan called "REPowerEU", which also mentioned the layout of photovoltaic facilities in the EU. The plan requires that the total installed capacity of PV in the EU will reach 320 GW in 2025 and 600 GW in 2030. It can be seen that in the process of pursuing "energy freedom" in the EU, the importance of solar power generation is self-evident.

Wang Yuanfeng, director of the Carbon Neutralization Technology and Strategy Research Center of Beijing Jiaotong University, said: "Europe is experiencing the 'pain' of the energy crisis, and solar power generation plays a significant role in supplementing local energy. In the long run, the current large-scale deployment of solar power generation also plays an accelerating role in realizing 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 consultancy, found that due to the rise in electricity prices, the manufacturing costs of the local photovoltaic industry in Europe have increased significantly, so about 35 gigawatts of photovoltaic manufacturing projects are facing the risk of being shelved. Rystad Energy also said that due to the increase 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 the financing of related projects.

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

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

He also suggested that Chinese enterprises should remain vigilant in the face of the blue ocean market. First of all, at the trade level, China's international trade enterprises should prepare for possible "antitrust" measures and avoid the passive situation. Secondly, at the geopolitical level, there was a voice that Europe should not rely on China's PV, otherwise it would 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. Most importantly, China's photovoltaic industry needs to reduce the carbon emissions of the entire industrial chain to avoid being "encircled" by the European "carbon footprint" regulations that may be implemented in the future. As a leader in the global photovoltaic industry, China should cooperate with the international community to jointly launch and formulate relevant regulations to provide strong support for China's photovoltaic export to the world.