Global leading solar product manufacturer Longi Solar plans to establish its first factory in Germany, recently revealed by Li Zhenguo, founder and president of the company, and the final decision should be made within six months.
This will be the first factory of a Chinese solar company in Europe. The supply chain chaos of the past two years has made the benefits of having its own solar module production in Europe very evident. Module prices have increased by 15% to 20%, and countless projects have been postponed due to the lack of modules from China. The German Solar Association (BSW) stated that this dependence is “much greater than we are on natural gas from Russia”.
According to data from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, nearly 90% of the photovoltaic systems imported by Germany come from China. The numbers in Europe are similar, and the construction of Chinese companies will receive support from the BSW.
Longi Solar is not the only Chinese solar energy company to specifically develop such plan in Europe, as well as Jinko Solar, Trina Solar and Daqo New Energy are also discussing plans for European production facilities. Industry insiders say that they are currently waiting for the EU and the German government to launch relevant subsidy plans.
In recent years, Chinese companies have changed their investment strategies. They did not invest in European companies, but instead began to establish their own bases. For Longi, Europe is one of the most important markets, which takes 20% of its global business.
While the subsidy rate in Germany has been cut, Chinese companies have dominated the world market including Europe, since they have been benefited from the generous investment of Chinese government. The International Energy Agency (IEA) wrote in its latest analysis that so far, the Chinese government has invested more than USD 50 billion in new photovoltaic power generation capacity, ten times that of Europe.
It has not yet been decided whether Longi will build a separate factory or cooperate with others to make it happen, but Siemens seems to be in the consideration.
