In the global energy transition wave, Europe is undoubtedly the most active market for renewable energy deployment, and the fossil energy supply crisis caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has accelerated the energy transition in Europe, and the demand for photostatic Continued to increase. PV InfoLink analyzed China's customs export data in 2022. As of April, Europe had imported 24.4GW of photovoltaic modules from China, far exceeding the performance of the same period last year and other markets, and currently the world's largest demand for photovoltaic products outside China. strong area.

European market analysis

According to PV InfoLink's analysis of China's customs export data, China exported a total of 49.0GW of modules in the first four months of 2022, of which 24.4GW of PV modules were exported to Europe, accounting for 50%, compared with 10.0GW in the same period last year. It has grown by 144%, which is quite significant, and the export volume to Europe shows a trend of increasing month by month, which has not been reduced due to the price increase in the supply chain this year, showing the strong demand for photovoltaic products in the region.

In terms of the size of the export market, there are currently four countries that have imported more than 1GW of modules from China, namely the Netherlands, Spain, Poland and Germany. The largest importer, the Netherlands, is the main transshipment port in Europe. Many European countries import modules through the Netherlands, and they have accumulated 12.1GW of module imports from China. The second largest demand in Europe, Spain, currently imports 3.3GW from China. However, Poland and Germany, the two largest countries expected to demand European demand this year, imported 1.9 and 1.4GW of Chinese PV modules from China accumulatively.

In addition to the German government's announcement after the Ukraine-Russia conflict that it will accelerate the deployment of renewable energy, which is expected to reach 100% renewable energy in 2035, and announced that it will add 20GW of photovoltaic installed capacity every year from 2028, the European Commission announced on 5/18. The REPowerEU Plan aims to increase the cumulative installed capacity of photostatic in EU countries to 320GW in 2025 and 600GW in 2030. It is also proposed that from 2026, new public and general buildings will gradually be forced to install rooftop photostatic. Stimulating the demand in the European market, the European photovoltaic market will still be a region with strong growth in the future.

Even though the current supply chain price is still at a high level, the European terminal is still looking for orders. At present, the execution price will continue to rise due to the continuous improvement in market demand and exchange rate factors. The 500W+ single glass module falls at 0.27-0.28 yuan per watt. dollars. In addition, due to the impact of the epidemic in China in recent months, the supply capacity has been hindered, and the strong demand has been matched with a slightly tightened supply. USD 0.315 level. The price of black back panel components can reach the price of 0.295-0.35 US dollars per watt.

in conclusion

In the first four months of 2022, Europe has imported 24.4GW of photovoltaic modules from China, and the import volume shows a trend of increasing month by month. Manufacturers also have quite optimistic expectations for the European market demand. However, considering supply bottlenecks, such as chip shortages that may cause unstable inverter supply, the actual module demand may not be as optimistic as China's export data. PV InfoLink forecasts European module demand at 49GW in 2022, with an optimistic scenario of 55GW.

Despite the high price acceptance in the European market, and due to supply chain and trade barriers in the past two years, the topic of local PV manufacturing in Europe has been heatedly discussed. For example, The European Solar Initiative proposed by SolarPower Europe and InnoEnergy hopes to build 20GW of PV by 2025. Upstream and downstream supply chains, but considering the high cost of local manufacturing in Europe and the long time required to establish a complete supply chain, Europe’s module sources still have to rely on China’s imports, making Europe still the main export for Chinese PV manufacturers in 2022 market.