Washington

The Norwegian polysilicon supplier – which has most of its manufacturing operations on U.S. soil – cannot give any estimate on when its solar material production lines will return, and has been left entirely dependent on the semiconductor products made by its Montana facility.

The Norwegian manufacturer has delayed full shutdown of its U.S. polysilicon operation until mid July as President Trump and his Chinese counterpart are scheduled to hold talks in Osaka in two weeks’ time.

Stock in the polysilicon manufacturer appeared to be recovering in early trading on the Oslo exchange this morning after it cancelled plans for a private placement of as many as 50 million shares.

The campaign of Democratic presidential contender Jay Inslee says the Democratic Party has also told the governor of Washington state if he participates in anyone else’s climate change debate he will be barred from future hustings.

With the deadline set by the Trump administration for avoiding a rise in further penalties on Chinese imports having passed without resolution last night, the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing reportedly warned of countermeasures, a threat which will raise fears among members of the Norwegian firm’s U.S. workforce.

The company has reported declining revenues and increasing losses in its first-quarter update. A plan to reduce polysilicon production will begin in a week’s time and if access to the Chinese market is not restored, a complete shutdown could be in place by the end of June.

Washington is looking to become the fourth state to make the move to 100% renewable electricity, with only a senate review and the hand of Governor Inslee left in the path of SB 5116.

Norway-headquartered REC Silicon has revealed plans to halt operations at its Moses Lake facility in the U.S. in 17 days’ time. The company says it has taken the decision to maintain liquidity for its semiconductor business with American workers set to pay the price for President Trump’s trade war with China.

While U.S. senators Ed Markey and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduce a resolution for a clean energy package, legislation has been tabled in six states aiming to implement 80-100% clean energy by 2050 or earlier.