According to reports from Norwegian media outlets, the price of electricity in Norway, alongside worldwide overproduction of polysilicon, made REC’s operations untenable in comparison with its Chinese competitors.
Parliament’s decision has been met with both approval and some trepidation by representatives in the European solar industry. It will now pass to negotiations with the European Council to clarify its specifics.
Multiple European solar associations have published an open letter, calling for the EU to develop industry strategy for the European solar PV sector and opposing the introduction of tariffs and trade barriers.
The new ESG standard is based on existing international standards. For companies active in the solar value chain, the new standard creates a “one-stop-shop to independently validate ESG commitment at production sites”.
Facing an auditorium of the biggest names in solar, the panelists in the discussion emphasised the central role that ESG and supply chain traceability is coming to play in the solar industry.
The German government is considering the possibility of imposing trade barriers on Chinese-imported solar modules and components to Europe, according to Reuters.
With multiple European countries submitting their revised National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) in recent months, the European Union (EU) is targeting an extra 90GW of solar capacity by 2030.
