As of: February 27, 2024, 6:40 a.m
By: Lisa Mayerhofer
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A technician walks across a roof on which a photovoltaic system has been installed.
The largest solar panel factory in Europe is starting up in Sicily.
(Archive image) © Jens Büttner/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
The solar industry in Germany and Europe is in danger of being flattened by Chinese competition.
In Italy they don't want to give up - and are starting with a mega project.
Catania - The European solar industry has to deal with blow after blow: On Friday it was announced that Meyer Burger, one of the largest European manufacturers of solar modules, wants to close its factory in Freiberg, Saxony.
Due to the deteriorating European market environment, production in the region is no longer profitable, the Swiss company announced on Friday.
The move was foreseeable after numerous warnings from Meyer Burger.
Nevertheless, an outcry went through Germany - because if the lights go out at the German factory, the dependence on Chinese manufacturers in the solar sector could continue to grow.
But everyone in Europe doesn't want to give up yet: In Sicily, a lot of EU money is currently being invested - in the largest solar panel factory in Europe.
Gigafactory in Sicily is intended to boost solar cell production in Europe
The Italian energy supplier Enel wants to produce solar cells with a total output of three gigawatts every year in a gigafactory in the Sicilian city of Catania over the next year.
This would make the plant the largest in Europe - and would produce almost twice as much as Meyer Burger in Freiberg.
“In April we will start producing the first photovoltaic modules,” said the head of the 3Sun Gigafactory, Stefano Lorenzi, to the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
.
According to Enel, solar cells will be produced from our own development with a higher degree of efficiency and a significantly longer service life than the Chinese competition.
In total, Enel will invest 600 million euros in Catania, of which 118 million euros will come from the EU innovation fund, reports the
editorial network Germany
.
This is also a “strategic project” for the EU, as the EU Director General for Energy, the Dane Ditte Juul Jorgensen, emphasized a year ago in Catania, according to
RND
.
“Thanks to this project we will have a European leader in the production of solar systems - this is more important than ever and we will all benefit from it,” said Jorgensen.
Habeck on the solar industry: Solution “must come quickly so that it is not too late”
The Italian initiative has also met with approval in Germany: “Enel is one of the locomotives of the European solar industry, which is urgently needed for its renaissance,” says Carsten Körnig, general manager of the Federal Association of the Solar Industry, to the
FAZ
.
But you also have to have the demand for it.
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Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) is now also insisting on government aid for the solar industry in Germany.
“I strongly advocate that we have a base of solar production in Germany,” said Habeck on Monday in Berlin.
Therefore, “we have to clear the way for the resilience bonus in Solar Package 1”.
The resilience bonus is intended to increase the feed-in tariff for solar power producers who buy products from Europe.
The SPD and the Greens in the federal government want to include the bonus in Solar Package 1, the FDP is against it.
Habeck said on Monday that the vast majority of solar panels installed in this country come from China.
Continuing to have production and know-how in Germany offers security – and this security comes at a price.
A solution “must come quickly so that it is not too late,” warned the minister.
With material from dpa and AFP