Month: December 2015

The two sides were involved in a major dispute over trade measures on solar panels imported from China, before eventually reaching deals on minimum import prices and quotas on Chinese imports in 2013.

The European Commission started an expiry review of the anti-dumping duties on imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) modules and cells from China.

According to unionoracle.com, EU ProSun, an association of solar power equipment manufacturers, says such commission reviews typically take up to 15 months, which would mean the measures will likely stay in place through the end of next year.

The EU said in the statement that the partial interim review will consider whether or not it is in the EU’s interest to maintain the measures that are now in force.

Following a request lodged by EU ProSun on September 4, 2015, the commission now will work to determine whether the expiry of the measures would result in a continuation or recurrence of dumping of China-made crystalline silicon PV modules.

In Saturday’s statement, an official with MOFCOM’s Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau said that the implementation of the agreed measures has been relatively “smooth”.

Shen said that the booming domestic market has benefited Chinese solar-panel makers as they continue to expand into overseas markets.

According to MOFCOM, the EU’s PV installed capacity dropped significantly to 7 GW in 2014, compared with 24 GW in 2012, and its share of the world’s total capacity fell to 14.5 percent from 74 percent.

According to the ministry, solar panels and related components are vital to the development of clean energy, but the pace of growth of clean energy has been slowed in Europe after some countries cut subsidies on solar panels and set minimum import prices.

Though China’s overall exports to the EU have declined in recent months because of the sluggish economy there, “disputes” in one industry will not affect the overall trade relations between China and the EU, Lin Guijun, vice president of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, told the Global Times Saturday.

“The overall trade ties between China and the European Union are generally positive”, Lin said, noting that cooperation in other areas such as food, autos, and high-tech is getting stronger.

The biggest photovoltaic power plant of Europe, having a power capacity of up to 300 MWp peak, which is the annual electric consumption of 300.000 people, was inaugurated on Tuesday to Cestas, near Bordeaux in France.

According to Middle East News Service, a project worth 360 million euros run by Neoen, a company which five years ago was just a start-up and today is one of the most dynamic players in the renewable energies field.

While the COP21 opened in Paris, this power plant takes up an area of roughly 250 hectares, the equivalent of about 350 soccer fields, including a million of solar panels, 5.000 km of cables and 204.000 screwed foundations, make quickly the symbol of the summit.

The 300 MW solar park started feeding energy into the grid already in late October. Developers wanted to acknowledge the importance of renewable energy to the goals of the climate talks going on in Paris (and probably to boost their media coverage as well) by holding the grand opening the same Tuesday the COP21 talks start.

“We will deliver power at an extremely competitive price, similar to wind power, and at any rate cheaper than the cost of power from new nuclear plants,” Neoen Chief Executive Xavier Barbaro told reporters on Tuesday.

Barbaro said the facility’s solar panels are not oriented toward the south, but on an east-west axis, which allows them to produce three to four times more power for the same surface area.

The east-west orientation also allows the panels to produce more power early in the morning and late in the afternoon, which corresponds more closely to French power demand patterns.

Barbaro said Neoen’s Bordeaux solar plant shows that solar photovoltaic can be highly economical in terms of geographical footprint.

He also said while the solar panels are Chinese made, they make up only a minority part of the investment and that the main costs are related to construction, engineering, cabling and electrical equipment, for which there are many competitive French suppliers.

Neoen has said it aims to install 1,000 MW of capacity by 2017, about half in France.

The orientation of panels also allows to produce early in the morning and late during the evening. The sale price of the produced electricity is approximately 105 euros the MWh during 20 years, what makes it one of the most rentable of France.