Meyer Burger, Germany’s last solar panel producer, announced plans to shut down and relocate to the US, intensifying the debate over long-term government support for the industry.
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck’s plan to attract solar module manufacturers back to Germany by providing generous state subsidies has stalled.
Germany’s Free Democratic Party (FDP) is blocking plans to provide “esilience bonuses” to potential manufacturers amid a budget crisis sparked by a German Supreme Court ruling last month that left a €60bn hole in the country’s finances.
As a result, Swiss module manufacturer Meyer Burger is threatening to relocate entirely to the US, jeopardising 500 jobs. The producer noted in a statement on Wednesday that “the company is preparing to shut down module production in Germany” after losses of around 133 million euros in 2023.
Solar panels are currently produced mainly in China. However, Germany is also a contributor: polysilicon, for example, is produced by the WACKER chemical company in Saxony. The region was alarmed by Meyer Burger’s plans to relocate.
State’s energy minister Wolfram Günther stated:
This announcement is a wake-up call. We now need a quick decision in favour of a protected national market segment with resilience criteria.
Meyer Burger, which claims to be the technological leader in solar panel production, has blamed its woes on unfair foreign competition, including dumping. Their threat to shut down production revives old fears in Germany, which lost much of its promising solar panel industry to Chinese competition in the late noughties.
Meyer Burger’s statement comes at a time when the German government is struggling to secure sufficient state support to maintain domestic production. A government spokesperson claimed:
“We are in talks with Meyer Burger, and we are very aware of the difficult situation of this company and the PV industry in Germany.”
The company set the deadline at “the second half of February 2024” and called for “resilience measures” to ensure production in Germany.
Problems with the production of solar PV systems have arisen as Europe debates its industrial policy law, the Net-Zero Industry Act.
The aims of the proposed law are to support the production in Europe of technologies deemed necessary to achieve climate neutrality. It includes the production of solar panels, wind turbines, and heat pumps.
Our aim is to produce a significant proportion of the necessary transformation technologies in Germany and Europe.
Habeck and the Social Democrats (SPD) are in favour of “resilience” subsidies to support industry, while the FDP opposes them.
Konrad Stockmeier, an FDP MP responsible for energy issues, stated that these subsidies make “the energy transition more costly, at the expense of taxpayers.” The German renewable energy federation (BEE) is also calling for a rapid solution. BEE President Simone Peter declared:
“In order to strengthen the resilience of our energy supply, it is essential to build up our own production capacities or rebuild lost capacities.”
The solar industry aid package is currently being debated in the German parliament, with discussions due to conclude on February 21.
