Legal

The Chinese solar giant today announced a final written decision published by the American authorities which reportedly invalidates Hanwha Q Cells patents. That development appears to have come 12 days after the Korean manufacturer carried out a seizure of a Longi panel shipment in Rotterdam on the basis of the potential for the infringement of Hanwha patents which apply in Europe.

A shipment of modules from the Chinese solar manufacturer was reportedly seized in the Netherlands last month on the orders of Korean rival Hanwha Q Cells, which persuaded a Dutch court the products might be distributed in third-party nations in infringement of one of its European patents.

The Biden Administration’s decision to ban solar imports from four Xinjiang-based polysilicon manufacturers has already raised concerns. One analyst warns of a “significant negative impact” across the U.S. solar industry.

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German manufacturer Robert Bürkle GmbH has obtained a first instance judgement preventing a rival company from producing equipment that infringes on its patents. The decision of the Intermediate Peoples Court in China is not yet final, and the rival company has already filed a complaint against the ruling.

Local lawsuits are reportedly set to cost the body set up to purchase clean power in Ukraine more than €24 million already, after the decision by the government in August to retroactively reduce FIT payments. Lithuanian clean power developer Modus Energy is preparing for its own suit, citing Ukraine’s international treaty obligations.

The ruling was issued on Thursday after the matter was referred by a U.K. tax tribunal which, in March last year, upheld the U.S.-headquartered solar manufacturer’s claim the assembly of cells into panels is an important step, which should render such products Indian.

Lithuanian-owned solar developer Modus Energy International is reportedly seeking €11.5 million from the Ukrainian government after it retroactively reduced feed-in tariff payments from August. Modus claims Kiev breached the Energy Charter Treaty with its reduced-payment legislation.

The court has agreed with advocate-general Henrik Saugmandsgaard Øe that Italy’s move, in 2014, to reduce solar incentive payments contained in signed agreements held by developers does not breach EU law.

The EU executive will investigate whether power company PPC abused its dominant position in the member state’s wholesale electricity market to squeeze out competitors.