The European Union began a broad investigation Thursday into whether Chinese companies have exported solar powerequipment for less than the cost of making it, in what amounts to history’s biggest anti-dumping investigation by value. The case covers imports from China worth €21 billion, or $26.5 billion, last year, a hefty 6.5 percent of all E.U. imports of Chinese goods. The European case is four or five times larger by value than a similar investigation under way in the United States, because the Union is the biggest export market for Chinese solar panels. (...) European leaders including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, wary of retaliation by China, had urged the commission to seek a negotiated solution. China could, in response, impose duties on products it imports from Europe, including polysilicon, one of the main components of solar panels. (...) EU ProSun [coalition of companies assembled by SolarWorld ], said China had been dumping solar panels on the European market for two years, contributing to the bankruptcy of 20 European manufacturers this year alone. Milan Nitzschke, the president of EU ProSun and a vice president of SolarWorld, said that prices of Chinese solar equipment sold in Europe would have been 60 percent to 90 percent higher last year had the products not been dumped on the market.
sexta-feira, 7 de setembro de 2012
Europe Investigates Chinese Solar Panels
NYTimes.com
The European Union began a broad investigation Thursday into whether Chinese companies have exported solar powerequipment for less than the cost of making it, in what amounts to history’s biggest anti-dumping investigation by value. The case covers imports from China worth €21 billion, or $26.5 billion, last year, a hefty 6.5 percent of all E.U. imports of Chinese goods. The European case is four or five times larger by value than a similar investigation under way in the United States, because the Union is the biggest export market for Chinese solar panels. (...) European leaders including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, wary of retaliation by China, had urged the commission to seek a negotiated solution. China could, in response, impose duties on products it imports from Europe, including polysilicon, one of the main components of solar panels. (...) EU ProSun [coalition of companies assembled by SolarWorld ], said China had been dumping solar panels on the European market for two years, contributing to the bankruptcy of 20 European manufacturers this year alone. Milan Nitzschke, the president of EU ProSun and a vice president of SolarWorld, said that prices of Chinese solar equipment sold in Europe would have been 60 percent to 90 percent higher last year had the products not been dumped on the market.
Reaction: Chinese PV manufacturers respond to EU dumping investigation
The European Union began a broad investigation Thursday into whether Chinese companies have exported solar powerequipment for less than the cost of making it, in what amounts to history’s biggest anti-dumping investigation by value. The case covers imports from China worth €21 billion, or $26.5 billion, last year, a hefty 6.5 percent of all E.U. imports of Chinese goods. The European case is four or five times larger by value than a similar investigation under way in the United States, because the Union is the biggest export market for Chinese solar panels. (...) European leaders including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, wary of retaliation by China, had urged the commission to seek a negotiated solution. China could, in response, impose duties on products it imports from Europe, including polysilicon, one of the main components of solar panels. (...) EU ProSun [coalition of companies assembled by SolarWorld ], said China had been dumping solar panels on the European market for two years, contributing to the bankruptcy of 20 European manufacturers this year alone. Milan Nitzschke, the president of EU ProSun and a vice president of SolarWorld, said that prices of Chinese solar equipment sold in Europe would have been 60 percent to 90 percent higher last year had the products not been dumped on the market.
quarta-feira, 5 de setembro de 2012
Energia Governo chega a acordo com operadores de parques eólicos para redução de subsídios
Expresso.pt
O Governo anunciou hoje que chegou a um acordo de princípio com operadores de parques eólicos cobertos por legislação anterior a 2005 para reduzir o valor dos subsídios atribuídos, numa poupança estimada em 140 milhões até 2020. O acordo alcançado abrange mais de 70 por cento da "potência eólica elegível", havendo, do lado do Governo, uma "forte convicção de que será possível obter a adesão voluntária da quase totalidade da potência elegível".
Segundo comunicado do Ministério da Economia e do Emprego, "os produtores eólicos aderem a um regime em que efetuam pagamentos ao Sistema Elétrico Nacional destinados à diminuição das tarifas para os consumidores e a abater o défice tarifário", ficando "vinculados a um sistema de preços máximos e mínimos durante um período de cinco a sete anos após o fim da atual tarifa bonificada que recebem"-
O Governo anunciou hoje que chegou a um acordo de princípio com operadores de parques eólicos cobertos por legislação anterior a 2005 para reduzir o valor dos subsídios atribuídos, numa poupança estimada em 140 milhões até 2020. O acordo alcançado abrange mais de 70 por cento da "potência eólica elegível", havendo, do lado do Governo, uma "forte convicção de que será possível obter a adesão voluntária da quase totalidade da potência elegível".
Segundo comunicado do Ministério da Economia e do Emprego, "os produtores eólicos aderem a um regime em que efetuam pagamentos ao Sistema Elétrico Nacional destinados à diminuição das tarifas para os consumidores e a abater o défice tarifário", ficando "vinculados a um sistema de preços máximos e mínimos durante um período de cinco a sete anos após o fim da atual tarifa bonificada que recebem"-
segunda-feira, 27 de agosto de 2012
S.Korea's Hanwha signs deal to buy insolvent Q-Cells
Reuters
South Korea's Hanwha Corp intends to buy solar Group Q-Cells, the insolvent German group said in a statement on Sunday.
South Korea's Hanwha Corp intends to buy solar Group Q-Cells, the insolvent German group said in a statement on Sunday.
quarta-feira, 22 de agosto de 2012
Solar Trade War: China Retaliates
Greentech Media
SolarWorld-led tariffs on Chinese solar panels have seemingly coaxed further retaliatory trade measures from the Chinese government. The solar trade war, almost a year old now, has ushered in tariffs on Chinese solar panelssold in the U.S. A tariff might be imposed in the European Union as well. The tariffs are hitting small U.S. solar producers as we've reported here and here -- with a dubious impact on Chinese PV panel prices in the U.S. But the serious blowback from the SolarWorld-led tariffs is coming from Chinese ministries.
We reported on China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) inquiry into anti-dumping and anti-subsidy claims on U.S. imported polysilicon. That could hit firms in the U.S., such as Hemlock, MEMC, OCI, and REC.
Today's trade salvo, reported by Platts, has China's Ministry of Commerce claiming that six renewable-energy projects across five U.S. states are "illegally subsidized and violate World Trade Organization rules."
The announcement on the Ministry's website claimed that state support of these projects is "distorting normal international trade" under the WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and urges the U.S. to eliminate the aid for these projects. At this time, it's just a complaint, not yet in arbitration.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has also made a preliminary determination in the anti-dumping investigations of imports of utility-scale wind towers from China and Vietnam. Commerce preliminarily determined that Chinese and Vietnamese producers/exporters sold utility-scale wind towers in the United States at dumping margins of 20.85 percent to 72.69 percent and 52.67 percent to 59.91 percent, respectively. Additionally, the European Union has asked for WTO arbitration over China's export caps on rare-earth metals, which are used in wind turbines and other renewable energy applications.
SolarWorld-led tariffs on Chinese solar panels have seemingly coaxed further retaliatory trade measures from the Chinese government. The solar trade war, almost a year old now, has ushered in tariffs on Chinese solar panelssold in the U.S. A tariff might be imposed in the European Union as well. The tariffs are hitting small U.S. solar producers as we've reported here and here -- with a dubious impact on Chinese PV panel prices in the U.S. But the serious blowback from the SolarWorld-led tariffs is coming from Chinese ministries.
We reported on China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) inquiry into anti-dumping and anti-subsidy claims on U.S. imported polysilicon. That could hit firms in the U.S., such as Hemlock, MEMC, OCI, and REC.
Today's trade salvo, reported by Platts, has China's Ministry of Commerce claiming that six renewable-energy projects across five U.S. states are "illegally subsidized and violate World Trade Organization rules."
The announcement on the Ministry's website claimed that state support of these projects is "distorting normal international trade" under the WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and urges the U.S. to eliminate the aid for these projects. At this time, it's just a complaint, not yet in arbitration.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has also made a preliminary determination in the anti-dumping investigations of imports of utility-scale wind towers from China and Vietnam. Commerce preliminarily determined that Chinese and Vietnamese producers/exporters sold utility-scale wind towers in the United States at dumping margins of 20.85 percent to 72.69 percent and 52.67 percent to 59.91 percent, respectively. Additionally, the European Union has asked for WTO arbitration over China's export caps on rare-earth metals, which are used in wind turbines and other renewable energy applications.
REC ASA to File for Insolvency of Norway Solar Wafer Unit
Renewable Energy News
Renewable Energy Corp. ASA, a solar- energy group grappling with falling demand, will stop funding its Norwegian solar-wafer division and plans to file for the insolvency of the unit after shutting down all production. REC Wafer Norway AS’s liabilities exceeded its assets by about 1.2 billion kroner ($203 million) at the end of July, making a solvent winding-up of the unit dependent on more money from REC, the Sandvika, Norway-based group said in a statement today. Costs related to the bankruptcy are expected to be about 400 million kroner, the company said. (...) The bankruptcy of REC Wafer Norway won’t affect REC’s solar and silicon units, it said today. (...) REC, whose shares have slumped 99 percent since listing six years ago, fell as much as 1.3 percent and traded 0.8 percent lower at 1.928 kroner as of 10:27 a.m. in Oslo.
Renewable Energy Corp. ASA, a solar- energy group grappling with falling demand, will stop funding its Norwegian solar-wafer division and plans to file for the insolvency of the unit after shutting down all production. REC Wafer Norway AS’s liabilities exceeded its assets by about 1.2 billion kroner ($203 million) at the end of July, making a solvent winding-up of the unit dependent on more money from REC, the Sandvika, Norway-based group said in a statement today. Costs related to the bankruptcy are expected to be about 400 million kroner, the company said. (...) The bankruptcy of REC Wafer Norway won’t affect REC’s solar and silicon units, it said today. (...) REC, whose shares have slumped 99 percent since listing six years ago, fell as much as 1.3 percent and traded 0.8 percent lower at 1.928 kroner as of 10:27 a.m. in Oslo.
Efacec to build 1 MW PV plant on Eletrosul HQ roof in Brazil
SolarServer
Eletrosul (Florianópolis, Brazil) announced that it has selected Efacec Megawatt Solar Consortium to build a one megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant at Eletrosul's headquarters building. The consortium, consisting of Portuguese Efacec and its Brazilian subsidiary, was selected in a bidding process.
The proposed PV plant, named Megawatt Solar, will use about 4,000 solar PV modules, which will be installed on the roof of the building and on the roof of car parks, totaling an area of about 10 million square meters.
The plant will be connected to local power grid, and is expected to generate an average of 1.2 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year, which equivalent to the annual consumption of about 570 homes.
Eletrosul (Florianópolis, Brazil) announced that it has selected Efacec Megawatt Solar Consortium to build a one megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant at Eletrosul's headquarters building. The consortium, consisting of Portuguese Efacec and its Brazilian subsidiary, was selected in a bidding process.
The proposed PV plant, named Megawatt Solar, will use about 4,000 solar PV modules, which will be installed on the roof of the building and on the roof of car parks, totaling an area of about 10 million square meters.
The plant will be connected to local power grid, and is expected to generate an average of 1.2 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year, which equivalent to the annual consumption of about 570 homes.
sexta-feira, 3 de agosto de 2012
Sistema de energia solar na ilha de Santo Antão em Cabo Verde
Macauhub Portuguese
O sistema de produção e distribuição de energia solar em Monte Trigo, na ilha de Santo Antão, projecto que contou com o financiamento da União Europeia, vai ser inaugurado dia 13 de Agosto corrente, informou a agência noticiosa cabo-verdiana Inforpress. A inauguração desta central, que funciona em regime experimental desde Fevereiro passado, acontece no mesmo dia em que será lançada a primeira pedra para o projecto de interligação energética para o Tarrafal, zona vizinha de Monte Trigo, projecto igualmente financiado pela União Europeia.
O sistema de produção e distribuição de energia solar em Monte Trigo, na ilha de Santo Antão, projecto que contou com o financiamento da União Europeia, vai ser inaugurado dia 13 de Agosto corrente, informou a agência noticiosa cabo-verdiana Inforpress. A inauguração desta central, que funciona em regime experimental desde Fevereiro passado, acontece no mesmo dia em que será lançada a primeira pedra para o projecto de interligação energética para o Tarrafal, zona vizinha de Monte Trigo, projecto igualmente financiado pela União Europeia.
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