Author |Vera
According to the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC), a total of 3GW of module capacity in Europe has been declared bankrupt or shut down since last fall, including Meyer Burger (1.4GW), Solarwatt (300MW), Energetica (250MW) and many others.
This trend continues.
According to PV Magazine, Recom Sillia, the French branch of PV storage company Recom, has entered liquidation procedures on April 12, forcing its factories to close and 32 employees receiving notice of dismissal, according to PV Magazine.
The Recom-Silia plant in northern France is closed. Image source: France Telegraph
Headquartered in France, Recom is the only and largest Bloomberg Tier 1 module manufacturer in Europe. The Company mainly produces photovoltaic modules, cells, inverters, energy storage systems, energy storage batteries and electric vehicle charging piles, among others. Among them, the total production capacity of photovoltaic modules exceeds 3.2GW, and the products are sold to more than 110 countries.
However, the Recom Sillia plant, one of the company's main production bases with a total capacity of 500MW, has not escaped bankruptcy.
Ill-fatedRecom Sillia的破产并非一蹴而就。
The plant, which dates back to 1965, was initially operated by Sillia VL, a subsidiary of French telecommunications giant Safran, with a capacity of just 50MW.
In 2014, Sillia VL acquired the Bosch Group's 150MW module plant. In 2017, Sillia VL experienced serious difficulties and declared bankruptcy, and was subsequently acquired by Recom's Italian branch, which was renamed Recom Sillia.
Although Recom injected €30 million into its French plant in 2019 to expand its module production capacity to 500MW, the outbreak of the new crown epidemic and the sharp reduction in product prices in China have left Recom Sill in the face of consecutive losses.
It is reported that from 2019 to 2021, Recom Sillia has lost more than 2 million euros in a row, and the loss in 2021 is as high as 6 million euros (about 46.75 million yuan). Faced with such severe financial pressures, Recom had to make the difficult decision to close the factory and lay off employees.
Recom Sillia连年亏损。 图片来源:Infogreffe网站截图
Recom revealed that after the liquidation, the production equipment will be moved to the company's factory in Italy, but did not disclose the scale of the capacity involved.
经彭博新能源财经BNEF分析师Jenny Chase确认，Recom已从Bloomberg Tier 1列表中移除。
Image source: Screenshot of overseas social platform
The French government is disappointing
Recom believes that the bankruptcy of the French factory has a lot to do with the inaction of the French government.
When Recom acquired Sillia VL, the French government launched a "CRE 3" tender and awarded PV projects across France to around a dozen developers. All successful bidders have appointed Sillia (now Recom-Sillia) as the sole module supplier for a total of 295MW of PV in their RFPs.
图片来源：Recom Sillia
However, instead of using Recom Sillia's components as promised, the winning bidder opted for products from other suppliers, and the French government did nothing about it.
"The French government's failure to enforce the regulations related to the CRE tender and their indifference to the challenges facing the French renewable energy sector have led to the decision to leave France," Recom told PV Magazine. ”
At present, Recom-Silia has filed a legal action against the French Ministry of Ecological Transition with the Commercial Court of Rennes, France, for a claim of 45 million euros.
Intention to revive "Made in France"
法国媒体"能源革命"(Energy Revolution)透露,如今,法国仅剩下一家光伏组件制造商。
Asked at a parliamentary committee why France's PV industry is not competitive, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the answer to Chinese competition lies in building gigafactories. Le Maire said that large factories will be able to manufacture PV modules of higher standards to achieve greater energy efficiency.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. Image source: Xinhua News Agency
In a speech on April 5, Merrell called on energy companies and developers to adopt "Made in France" PV modules in large numbers, and vowed to support "Made in France" by providing subsidies and revising carbon content standards to reduce dependence on Chinese products.
So far, a total of two companies have announced GW-level capacity plans. French start-up Carbon plans to build a 15GW vertically integrated production base in 2025, covering wafers, cells and modules, and increase to 20GW by 20230. Another local company, Holosolis, plans to build a 5GW module factory by 2025.
The two companies will also receive up to €2.2 billion in government investment, additional tax credits and other financial support.
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Ill-fated