33GW! Europe imports PV modules from China

According to Clean Energy Associates (CEA), a US clean energy consultancy, Europe imported about 33GW of solar PV modules from China in the first four months of 2024, accounting for 43% of China's total module exports.

Its PV Supply, Technology and Policy Report, Q2 2024, examines the market landscape of supply and policy in Europe and the United States, global silicon supply chain and technology trends.

Europe's import statistics coincide with CEA's observation that "European PV supply is shrinking as many long-term suppliers shut down production or file for bankruptcy because they cannot compete with imports."

Companies such as cell and module manufacturer Meyer Burger, Norwegian ingot producer NorSun and polysilicon producer REC have all suspended or abandoned European factories in the past 12 months due to unsustainable market conditions.

CEA also said that global module and cell production capacity will expand by more than 300GW each this year, in addition to about 600GW of new polysilicon capacity. Global capacity already far exceeds demand, and a January report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) said that no new solar capacity would be needed to meet global targets by the end of the decade.