JA Solar and Dutch PV developer Ecorus have partnered to build the 103.5MWp Fledderbosch solar project in Groningen, in the northeastern Netherlands.
A solar module super league member, JA Solar said that it had begun supplying the project with its PV modules, and would complete supply by the end of 2023. The company did not specify which modules or technology it would be providing to Ecorus.
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The project is currently under construction, with operations set to begin in February 2024.
In July, Ecorus sold the Fledderbosch project to German renewables asset manager CEE Group for an undisclosed sum. The company’s project portfolio is focused on northern central Europe, across the Netherlands and Belgium.
The supply deal with Shanghai-headquartered JA Solar comes at a notable moment for relations between European and Chinese PV companies. Earlier this week, European solar manufacturers, start-ups and component suppliers signed and sent an open letter to the EU calling for the imposition of measures to safeguard the continent’s PV manufacturing industry against “unsustainably low-priced PV modules” from Chinese companies.
In particular, the letter cited “intentional and purposeful attack by Chinese PV manufacturers” that could endanger the measures put in place by the EU to foster an onshore manufacturing base.
The same day as the open letter, the representative trade body SolarPower Europe released its own statement calling for a reversal in module price declines in Europe, warning that European companies were at risk of being unable to sell their products.
A report by Rystad Energy in July speculated that over 40GW worth of Chinese solar modules were sitting in European warehouses, having predominantly entered the continent through the port of Rotterdam. This figure is equivalent to almost all of the solar PV installed in Europe in 2022.
Norwegian wafer producer NorSun paused its production and announced a swathe of lay-offs this week as a result of the low pricing. The company cited the rerouting effect that US sanctions on Chinese imports have had, pushing greater volumes into Europe and putting downward pressure on prices as a result. The antidumping/countervailing duty tariffs in America – the centre of a long and ongoing debate in the country’s PV sector – were initially designed to prevent unfair pricing strategies by foreign companies.
