The inevitable fall-out from last month’s US Dept. of Commerce ruling against the import of Chinese solar products is now measurable in numbers, as the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) has revealed details of import figures for April. With US Customs and Border protection closely monitoring all imports to prevent companies dodging the anti-subsidy duties, imports in April came to US$70.7 million, down 66% compared to the previous month’s US$206 million.
Despite the feed-in tariff cuts in April, the French energy regulation commission (CRE) has released figures showing that installation requests have not stagnated over the last three quarters.
Flemish minister for energy Freya Van den Bossche has reformed green energy support. The government intends to overhaul its renewables certificates' scheme, where renewable energy producers receive a certificate for every megawatt generated, alongside phasing out subsidies.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Labor government's minister for the environment and sustainable development, Simon Corbell has announced its large-scale solar auction is in its final stage. The feed-in tariff support scheme has shortlisted 22 proposals.
With highs of 23ºC and cloudless skies on May 26, Germany produced 22GW of electricity, meeting nearly 50% of the country’s midday electricity needs. The Renewable Energy Industry (IWR) estimated this equaled the amount of power generated by 20 nuclear power plants.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has identified six renewable energy initiatives in the US that the Chinese government believes is flouting World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on subsidies and countervailing measures in addition to the 1994 GATT Agreement.
Almost a week after the preliminary determination announcement from the US Department of Commerce, organisations and corporations continue to make statements.
Developments in the South American market, particularly in Brazil, have created such a buzz that it will play host to Intersolar’s first South America Summit in São Paulo in August 2012. Countries in the region are seeing dramatic increases in energy consumption of up to 30% per year, chiefly as a result of industrial development. At the same time, in nations such as Brazil, solar power is currently on the brink of grid parity.
Late last week, Vermont’s Governor Shumlin signed the 2012 Energy Bill into law, which among other benefits saw the state’s CLEAN Program expand from 50MW to 127.5MW. The bill outlines that the capacity of any distributed generation facility that provides “sufficient benefits to the operation and management of the electric grid” because of its location or other characteristics will not count towards the overall program cap of 127.5MW. Thus, this portion of the legislation mandates that no limit exists on the amount of clean local energy produced from facilities providing locational benefits.
While some analysts are calling for calm and urging cooperation, the US head of SolarWorld has voiced confidence in the US Department of Commerce’s announcement for anti-dumping duties on Chinese imports of solar material claiming it will restore competition within the industry.
