- Italy completes first solar auction excluding Chinese gear
- Average price 17% above ordinary renewable auction
- Auction backs EU push to cut reliance on Chinese components
Italy awarded more than 1.1 gigawatts of capacity to 88 projects in its first auction exclusively for solar projects built without equipment manufactured in China, setting an average price of 66.38 euros per megawatt hour.
The tariff is 17% higher than the average price for a renewable auction earlier this year that had no restrictions on equipment origin, according to data from Italy’s electricity services agency (GSE).
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The auction is among the first in Europe to apply non-price criteria linked to the European Union’s Net-Zero Industry Act, a package of measures that aims to curb reliance on low-cost renewable components from China.
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When do we get a “Not made in US” auction? Seriously, we need to get independent from that fascist hellhole.
Renewable is renewable, and I’d rather Chinese renewables than US-made ones. Even if China might be shit, at least they’re a much more reliable trade partner.
The ideal of course is Europe and her allies. But outside of that, I think the US has sufficently demonstrated that we need to be less dependent on the US, and make the US dependent on our goodwill.
Competitive domestic production always makes sense, especially in critical areas such as power generation.
This may also be good for the wider industry as higher wage costs in production (in the EU, when compared to China) tend to lead to higher production yields in the search of efficiency meaning we can make meet our needs with less resources.
I hope for a “Only made in Europe” auction soon, but it’s a huge step in the right direction.