In the solar industry, not many PV manufacturers can boast of being a fully vertically integrated player with in-house capacity from polysilicon to modules. Tongwei is among these companies, however its physical presence outside of China was scarce, until recently.
Last November the company opened its first European branch in Frankfurt, Germany with a goal to be closer to its partners and better cater to the diverse market that is Europe. Its presence in Europe will also allow the company to build a key aspect, brand awareness.
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Erwin Damen, procurement manager at PVO, explained that the company plays in the same league as the top five manufacturers, but: “The only thing they have behind is the brand, and brand awareness.”
Damen explained that the issue was not so much within the industry players but to the larger public. “We know Tongwei, but the customers don’t know Tongwei, and don’t know what is behind Tongwei.”
Marvin Bonaparte, head of procurement at Memodo Netherlands, agreed that Tongwei’s presence in Europe will indeed help with brand awareness and added that it was essential “if you want to grow in Europe.”
“It is necessary if you want to be one of the key players in Europe,” said Bonaparte. Especially in order to be able to participate in tenders, such is the case in Germany, explained Bonaparte, where it is necessary to have an office in the country.
Allen Xue, overseas director at Tongwei, added that the company’s brand was rising in Europe, especially in markets such as Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary and Poland.
This is one of the reasons for the company to open its first European branch in Frankfurt, due to Germany’s geographical location, explained Xue.
“Germany is one of the most established markets in Europe. We have a lot of very mature players and partners here. Germany has a very clear purpose to develop renewable energy,” added Xue as another reason for selecting Germany to open its first office in the region.
Xue also highlighted the country’s clear target to develop renewable energy, with a 215GW solar PV goal by 2030, as another reason for selecting Germany.
Moreover, the importance of having a local workforce to better cater to the needs of its customers, while providing more time efficiency and service is another key aspect for Tongwei, explained Xue. “Our German branch will definitely serve as a vital connection point for our European partners, and we will invest more in local service. Provide more time-efficient service to our customers and more local service to support them.”
“We need to invest more in analysing each country and provide different strategies towards each country’s market. We also need to provide a different product to meet their demands,” added Xue.
Low carbon footprint and quality
When asked what helps the company set itself apart from the competition in Europe, Constantin Overlack, founder and CEO at Omniwatt highlighted the company’s end-product quality. “Because we work with a big contractor, for us reliability is a number one priority.”
Damen also mentions how PVO’s customers are emphasizing more in the carbon footprint as an important aspect to consider with solar modules. “The lower the number, the easier [it is] to sell in certain markets. France is very keen on it, but we have more and more countries also looking into the CO2 output. That’s something to think about.
“People are more concerned about the environment and ESG [environmental, social and governance] has always been a topic for us. I’m quite happy with Tongwei and they’re very cooperative,” added Damen.
If the importance of ESG in Europe for solar PV products has been on the rise in the past few years, Tongwei has also been working on moving forward with ESG to drive the green transition. With the company’s new office in Germany, Xue said that the company will invest more in ESG strategies to make the brand come closer to its customers.
“As we all know, Tongwei originated from the feeding industry, and we now have a dual-green strategy with green agriculture and green energy. We will combine our two industries together to develop projects like PV plus fishery integration projects, as we did a lot in China.
“And we are looking forward to having more cooperation with our European partners, to develop such kind of integration project in Europe too,” concluded Xue.
