Legal

SunEdison has announced today that it has closed US$314 million in financing for two utility scale photovoltaic power plants in South Africa. Plans to develop the 30 MW Witkop Solar Park and the 28 MW Soutpan Solar Park can now go ahead.

The argument for and against the duties on Chinese PV products dominated the CEO panel that took place at the 13th Forum Solarpraxis.

Members of the European Parliament at a plenary debate yesterday stated that they expect the European Commission to speed up its investigation against the Chinese price dumping allegations. EU ProSun made this statement in a press release today.

In a new study, AFASE has laid out the consequences it expects anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Chinese photovoltaic manufacturers in Europe will have. Expected European-wide is a fall in demand, job losses and price increases.

Just hours after the U.S. made its final tariff determination into Chinese imports of photovoltaic products to the U.S., the European Commission (EC) has now announced that it has launched an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese photovoltaic products coming into the EU.

As reported yesterday, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has unanimously determined that Chinese photovoltaic imports materially injured the U.S. industry, meaning AD and CV duty orders will be issued. It has, however, determined that no critical circumstances were present. Thus, retroactive duties will not be applied.

With the fallout from the ongoing EU anti-dumping investigation into Chinese photovoltaic products continuing with yesterday’s Chinese criticism of FIT subsidies in European member states, the union has muddied the waters further with the latest plans for its Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP). Meanwhile, a spokesman has commented on the recently filed anti-dumping polysilicon investigation launched by China.

According to reports, China’s Ministry of Commerce has launched an investigation into European imports of solar grade polysilicon.

According to the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), which was citing a confidential interim WTO dispute settlement report, a panel has agreed that Ontario’s FIT system violates WTO rules.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) has concluded that Chinese manufacturers have sold solar cells in the U.S. at dumping margins. Meanwhile, in the CVD investigation, duties will be retroactively applied to all Chinese photovoltaic cell and module imports that entered the United States beginning December 3, 2011.