World Trade Organization

After years of debate, the Indian government made domestic manufacturing a central feature of renewables policy in 2021. The pivot came as the government sought economic growth and self-sufficiency following a border conflict with China. Vinay Rustagi, managing director of Bridge to India, says that trade barriers, subsidies, lower taxes, and demand growth have created the perfect recipe for expansion.

The European Union and the United States are seeking a solution for key aspects of “discriminatory” production requirements in the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The EU said it might bring the case to the World Trade Organization if a compromise cannot be reached.

Carbon price levied on imported goods should be linked to level set by the bloc’s emissions trading system and should cover the power sector by 2023, according to members of the European Parliament’s environment committee.

Polycrystalline PV technology, which is seeing its market share tumble on the global stage, still dominates India’s small solar manufacturing base and is emblematic of the R&D shortfalls in the sector, according to a survey of the state of the industry.

The move has been welcomed as a step in the right direction by lobby group SolarPower Europe nevertheless, particularly as it envisages bringing together EU low-carbon businesses. The outline ambition will now be considered by the European Parliament.

A World Trade Organization panel has found a U.S. move to incentivize the use of domestic solar products put imported goods from India and other countries at a disadvantage.

The contraction in Chinese trade flows to the U.S. is likely to result in the dumping in India of Far Eastern electronic and electrical components as well as steel, iron, chemicals and plastic products.

Residential solar installations have almost trebled in Ho Chi Minh City in the past nine months, in line with the Vietnamese government’s recently announced aim for solar arrays to be installed on 26% of the country’s homes by 2030.

The South Korean group will start construction of the factory, in Whitfield County, Georgia, this year, with completion slated for 2019