Solar stocks in Chinese companies have been under increased pressure following reports that SolarWorld’s anti-dumping case against Chinese OEMs is progressing to the European Union. Jefferies has predicted that if the anti-dumping verdict is passed, it will be negative towards Chinese cell/module suppliers, positive to Taiwanese cell suppliers, SunPower and First Solar and neutral to poly and wafer suppliers (assuming the scope is largely limited to cells as in the US).
Subsequent to Italy’s energy agency Gestore dei Servizi Energetici's (GSE) 45 days notice to the domestic solar industry until the implementation of the revised Conto Energia, analysis from IMS Research has revealed that the country will have a severely reduced budget for incentive schemes. The new scheme was intended to be accompanied by an additional annual budget of €700m and is due to end when the total annual cost reached €6.7 billion. However, due to a large number of installations having been completed in the first half of this year in order to benefit from the previous Conto Energia’s generous rates, these have not yet been included in the official GSE statistics.
Concerns of Chinese retaliation against US countervailing and anti-dumping duties have manifested themselves in a complaint filed to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. MOFCOM has today released a statement regarding an application requesting an anti-dumping investigation into US and South Korean exports to China. On behalf of the Chinese solar industry, Jiangsu Silicon Technology Development, LDK Solar, Luoyan Sino-Silicon high-tech and New Energy, filed the complaint on July 2. Interested parties have 20 days to respond to the complaint.
Effective August 27, 2012, the revised Italian feed-in tariff programme Conto Energia V has made the registration of all PV systems compulsory. EuPD Research claims this will induce an artificial limitation to the market as well as incur a supplementary cost of €3/kWh.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Brey has come to blows with a group of 11 international infrastructure funds, including those managed by HSBC and Deutsche Bank. The prime minister has pledged to Parliament to tax utilities in an attempt to raise sorely needed cash from renewable energy to curb €25 billion of debt. The financial institutions are threatening cutting investment and taking legal action if reforms are tougher on renewables than traditional energy sources, throwing further companies into bankruptcy.
Japan has published its latest strategic energy plan, originally formulated in 2003 and reviewed every three years by conference bodies as well as various opinion polls. The latest revision includes a road map of energy-based economic growth and reformation of the energy infrastructure. The strategy is to ensure growth and encourage multi-faceted international trade by taking into account the social cost and price differences between nuclear, thermal and renewable energy generation.
The Bulgarian government has announced a 50% cut to solar feed-in tariffs, having only approved a new FiT in April. Effective July 1, chair of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR), Angel Semerdzhiev, told Parliament on Friday that the renewable energy surcharge was solely responsible for an increase in electricity rates.
The dark clouds of controversy looming over the German feed-in tariff have finally cleared with a compromise between the Bundestrat and Bundestag. Chancellor Merkel’s government has announced that it wants to maintain a solar “growth” corridor” of 2,500 – 3,000MW per year, with installations capped at 52GW. A class system for medium-sized roof-top installations will also be introduced. All funding will be back-dated to the original date of April 1, 2012.
The dust is yet to settle on tariff determinations against Chinese manufacturers, but the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) has released a statement warning of a “conspiracy to commit offence or to defraud the United States”. According to CASM, Chinese solar cell and panel exporters are reportedly planning to evade antidumping/countervailing orders. It asserts that this will not be effective, could be illegal and may expose US importers, in addition to Chinese exporters, to liability under US law, including significant financial penalties and criminal prosecution.
With European subsidies being cut left, right and centre, it appears Japan could fill the void and become the world’s second-largest market for solar power generation. The country will be welcoming the international solar community with open arms with the introduction of its latest feed-in tariff, which has the potential to generate US$30 billion by 2016 for the local economy. Industry Minister Yukio Edano approved the new rates this week, effective July 1.
