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AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec
the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act Mackenzie and lead author of the report. “It has
(UFLPA) are depressing near-term solar instal- proven more difficult and time-consuming to
lation forecasts and delaying the impact of the provide the proper evidence to comply with the
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law in UFLPA, further delaying equipment delivery to
mid-August. IRA reinstated generous tax credits the US.”
for solar installations. Forecasts from Wood Mackenzie find that the
The US Department of Commerce’s recent UFLPA will limit solar deployment to the end
decision – on December 2 – to apply anti-cir- of 2023 and mute the impact of the IRA in the
cumvention tariffs on solar products from near term. The report forecasts the utility-scale
Southeast Asia also presents downside risk to solar market to add 10.3 GW of new capacity in
future solar deployment, according to SEIA and 2022, representing a 40% drop from 2021 vol-
Wood Mackenzie. umes. By 2024, IRA-fuelled growth will begin in
“America’s clean energy economy hindered earnest, with annual solar growth averaging 21%
by its own trade actions,” said SEIA president between 2023-2027, concluded the report.
and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “The solar and In Europe, the European Commission on
storage industry is acting decisively to build an December 9 launched the European Solar PV
ethical supply chain, but unnecessary supply Industry Alliance to promote investment in EU
bottlenecks and trade restrictions are preventing solar manufacturing. The alliance has endorsed
manufacturers from getting the equipment they the goal of reaching 30 GW of European manu-
need to invest in US facilities. In the aftermath of facturing capacity by 2025 across the entire value
the Inflation Reduction Act, we cannot afford to chain.
waste time tinkering with trade laws as the cli- Peter Fath of the European Technology and
mate threat looms.” Innovation Platform for Photovoltaics and
As a result of supply constraints, the util- CEO of RCT Solutions said: “Innovation is very
ity-scale, commercial and community solar important to consolidate the European PV value
markets all experienced quarter-on-quarter chain, but Europe cannot dream to be imme-
declines in Q3, said the report. The residential diately competitive only by setting up highly
solar segment is less directly affected by existing innovative factories, because global competitors
trade issues and saw 1.57 GW of new installa- including China are also investing heavily in
tions, marking a 43% increase on Q3 2021. innovation. We need our factories to also pro-
“Installations this year were significantly pose a diverse portfolio of technologies and be
depressed due to supply chain constraints,” ready to integrate innovation via the upgrade of
said Michelle Davis, principal analyst at Wood the production line.”
Week 50 14•December•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7
