Over 40GW! European Warehouses Are Full of Chinese Photovoltaic Modules

Solar Panel Installation Brackets

According to related research firm reveal that more than 40 GW of Chinese-made solar panels with  are currently stored in Europe, with a cumulative value of about 7 billion euros ($7.8 billion). 

In recent years, global PV supply with Pv Mounting Brackets has been concentrated in China, and despite Europe’s aim to establish an internal production base, Chinese manufacturers have been able to lower prices and dominate the market, coupled with Europe setting ambitious solar installation targets, module imports from China have risen sharply, reaching 18.5 billion euros ($20.7 billion) in 2022.while a “significant amount of inventory” has been idled, the gap between imports and deployments in terms of actual volume and relative growth will not stop.So far in 2023, imports from China to Europe have been consistently higher than the same period in 2022: up 17% in January, 22% in February, 51% in March, 16% in April and 6% in May. 

In addition, looking at the latest data from China, the number of Chinese cell and component with Solar Panel Installation Brackets exports to Europe in 2023 has increased significantly, with a total of 83.37GW exported from January to April alone, an increase of about 60% year-on-year. In terms of export regions, Europe is the largest component export market. Specific to European countries, the Netherlands as the main European distribution center growth significantly, from January to April exports to the Netherlands of the total number of cells and components increased by more than 58%, while the export to Turkey, France and Belgium increased by more than 100%.Last year’s import statistics for the Netherlands are remarkable: nearly 45GW of Chinese imports arrived on Dutch shores last year alone, more than ten times the annual installed capacity in the Netherlands. It should be noted, however, that this does not seem to include the final destination, and Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe. 

The European Solar PV Industry Alliance have announced a manufacturing target of 30GW by 2025 and a 40% EU manufacturing target by 2030. Despite the gradual increase in capacity, internal production is still unable to maintain price competition with China.In order to advance renewable energy targets, avoid paying high prices for new capacity, European countries are eager to obtain affordable solar power equipment. “While Europe is working hard to build a reliable solar supply chain, the demand for solar panels now means leaders cannot wait until 2025 or later to buy European-made solar panels.”

According to the report, Spain, Germany and France all import more components from China than from other sources.Looking ahead, project delays due to skill shortages and critical material delays are unlikely to be resolved before 2025, without a slowdown in imports. Solar Mounting Racking purchase will be delayed as well. In addition, intra-EU manufacturing is growing, incentives to buy in-house products will be in place, and the entire industry is moving from P-type technology to N-type technology. This won’t be a problem in the short term when manufacturing and technology shifts, but components in warehouses certainly have an end shelf life. At present, the European Union, the United States and India are trying to bring photovoltaic manufacturing technology to the local, and pure price competition with Chinese products will be a challenge.


Post time: Aug-14-2023