A new report from research group IHS has found that the EU’s anti-dumping duties on Chinese solar products, if implemented, will result in over 1.3 GW less solar power capacity being installed in the EU in 2013.
Photo Credit: Solar panels in Spanish mountains by Steven2358 | CC BY-NC-SA license
Overall, combined with solar incentive cuts, IHS projects that the EU will install 6 GW or 33% less solar power capacity in 2013 compared to 2012. Germany’s solar market is projected to decrease about 3 GW compared to 2012, while Italy’s is projected to do so by about 2 GW.
The positive news from the IHS report: global solar PV installations are supposed to be up about 4 GW or 11% in 2013, reaching 35 GW. The main driver for the growth is strong solar PV growth in Asia, particularly China, Japan, and India.
Regarding the European situation, here’s more: “Although the EU Commission has given a small window of opportunity by reducing the tariff to 11.8% for 60 days, IHS still expects dampened demand,” said Ash Sharma, IHS’ senior director of solar research. “This decline comes in stark contrast to the sharp increase in module shipments from China as buyers stockpile ahead of the next tariff increase in August. As a result, IHS has cut its European forecast for the second half of 2013 by 1.3 GW — a nearly 20% reduction from our previous outlook.”
The top 10 solar markets, according to IHS, are projected to be:
Clearly, Europe still makes a strong showing, especially when you take into account population and economic size.
