Risen Energy will spend MYR42.2bn (US$10.2 billion) over 15 years on a new solar manufacturing plant in Malaysia, representing the Chinese company’s first investment in Southeast Asia.
Module and cell manufacturers in India will expand their production capabilities by 13.75GW for modules and 6.9GW for solar cells, according to research by JMK Research and Analytics
Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries will construct an integrated PV module factory and look to enable more than 100GW of solar by 2030 as part of a US$10.1 billion clean energy plan.
Yesterday the US government ended months of speculation by enacting a withhold and release order (WRO) on solar imports to the US linked to specific polysilicon providers in China suspected of having used forced labour. Liam Stoker analyses what we know so far and, crucially, what the industry still needs to know before it can proceed.
The cost of building and operating new utility-scale PV is now cheaper than running existing coal plants in China, India and across much of Europe. However, rising commodity prices could see PV projects become temporarily more expensive in the second half of 2021, according to BloombergNEF analysis.
The US government is set to block the imports of some solar products with links to the Xinjiang region of China in response to allegations of the use of forced labour.
US-based solar manufacturers have enthusiastically backed proposed tax credits that they say could enable the country to meet its PV equipment demands domestically while creating tens of thousands of new jobs.
Finlay Colville, head of market research at PV Tech Research, explores how solar PV has become dependent on low-cost manufacturing, facilitating a dominance by China-based players, and how the industry could engage with current scrutiny of solar’s supply chain.
Amidst surging materials costs, the solar industry needs to avoid any “gaming” on price between upstream and downstream sectors as it could be “very dangerous for both sides”. Leo Xiang, general manager at Jiang Tai Insurance Brokers’ energy department, speaks to PV Tech about the potential remedies to the situation.
