European Commission launches investigation!
The two consortiums, one consisting of ENEVO Group and Longi Solar Technologie GmbH, a German subsidiary of Longi Green Energy, and the other consisting of Shanghai Electric and one of its British subsidiaries, bid for the design, construction and operation of photovoltaic power stations in Romania.
Longi Green Energy and Shanghai Electric are Chinese companies. The EU's FSR refers to preventing non-EU governments from exerting undue influence on the single market, which prompted the EU to investigate their participation in public bidding processes.
The European Commission officially announced on April 3 that it would launch a countervailing investigation against these two companies under the Foreign Subsidy Act.
At present, the European Commission has notified the consortiums of this decision. The European Commission now has 110 working days to complete the investigation, which requires a decision by early September.
Regarding this decision, the EU-China Chamber of Commerce, which represents Chinese companies in Europe, expressed serious concern, believing that this regulation seriously distorts the level playing field for Chinese companies operating in the EU, and condemned the EU's use of foreign subsidy regulations as an "economic coercion tool."
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the EU said in a statement that relevant EU agencies have abused the new tool and used the Regulation as a new tool of economic coercion to interfere with the reasonable and legal business operations of Chinese companies in the EU's green and low-carbon transition market. We are strongly dissatisfied with this .
Romanian contracting agency Societatea Parc Fotovoltaics Ronvinari Est S.A. hosted the tender for the project, which is partly funded by the EU Modernization Fund, a €57 billion (approximately $48.9 billion) fund that supports projects including Romania in energy production in the EU's so-called "13 low-income" member states.
According to previously public information, at the end of 2023, LONGi Green Energy signed a 576MW module sales agreement with Romania’s Nofar. The agreement includes the purchase of LONGi Hi MO7 modules, which are known for their high performance and reliability.
The project was originally planned to be constructed in 2024 and put into operation in 2025. The collaboration marks an important milestone in the country’s solar sector and is considered Romania’s largest solar deal to date.
Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, said: “The aim of these two new in-depth investigations into foreign subsidies in the solar module industry is to safeguard Europe’s economy by ensuring that companies in our single market are truly competitive and compete fairly. safety and competitiveness.”
China’s participation in European solar market
Under the FSR, which will be implemented from July 2023, companies must disclose financial contributions from non-EU governments to businesses with a turnover of more than 500 million euros ($428.6 million) or foreign financial contributions of more than 50 million euros ($42.9 million).
Companies must also inform the European Commission of foreign involvement in public procurement processes, such as the licensing of new solar projects, with a contract valuation of at least 250 million euros ($214.3 million) and a contribution of at least 400 million from each non-EU country involved in the transaction. million euros ($3.43 million).
While the European Commission did not specify how much the two consortiums had invested in the project, it noted that there were "sufficient indications" that the funds invested by the two consortiums were sufficient to "distort the internal market."
NexWafe CEO Davor Sutija said that in recent years, the relationship between China and the European solar industry has attracted much attention, and 91% of all European photovoltaic import expenditures have been spent on importing Chinese products.
Johan Lindahl of the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) told PV Tech Premium earlier this year that the European solar industry's overreliance on Chinese-made modules has created a "serious situation" for European manufacturers, raising questions about the long-term health of the industry. Development cast doubt.
However, the connection between Chinese investment and Romania is less obvious, Ramona Volciuc-Ionescu, a partner at law firm Volciuc-Ionescu, told PV Tech today: "As far as I know, China does not have a strong direct influence in the Romanian solar industry. ."
Volciuc-Ionescu added: "Chinese companies do sell most of the equipment in the solar industry in Romania, but as far as I know, there are not many actual solar projects that Chinese companies or manufacturing plants control in Romania."
Meanwhile, the ESMC said the investigation was a "noteworthy step" for the European solar industry and drew attention to the fact that hundreds of renewable energy applications have been filed within its jurisdiction since the FSR was passed, The first two applications approved were from the solar industry.
ESMC explained on LinkedIn, "The Commission will assess whether these Chinese economic operators have gained an unfair advantage when obtaining EU public contracts. The results of these investigations are very important factors and they represent the basis for the application of FSR in the solar industry." First case.”trina solar panels