Trony Solar plans an IPO listing in HongKong after getting rebuffed in New York
August 24, 2010Why is Japanese Technology Giant Toshiba entering the Solar EPC business?
August 25, 2010France is going to reduce the Solar Feed in Tariffs by 12% for Ground Mounted Solar Installations from September 2010 according to a Bloomberg Report.The report led to a sharp decline in French utility EDF’s shares.This is not the first change as France has modified the Solar Feed in Tariff Law by 2-3 times in the last One Year.While the sharp drop in Solar Modules Prices is one of the reasons behind the frequent changes,it does not help the Investor Confidence.Note Renewable Energy is currently more expensive than Fossil Fuel Energy and requires incentives by the government for their promotion.Investors in Solar Plants make money over the years through a guaranteed payment from the Government for the electricity they generate which is known popularly as Feed in Tariff.While Changes are necessary for this Subsidy Scheme,ad hoc changes like that being done by France is a recipe for disaster.Investors look for certainty in Green Policy before investing and haphazard changes by Regulator is a Red Flag for Investors.Note Feed in Tariff Policy has frequently misfired like in the case of Czech and Spain in 2010 and 2009 respectively.
Even Germany has imposed yearly changes on FIT , still it has managed to become the solar capital of the world.2010 was an exception due to a mid year change,still Germany is going to install more solar capacity in 1 month than US’s entire historical installed capacity.This is due to a well laid out policy which instills confidence in investors.The French Government’s FIT cut has good reasons since ground mounted plants have lesser costs and most European countries like Spain are trying to boost residential solar installations.However rapid fire changes are not the answer to a well thought of careful FIT policy.
France to Cut EDF Solar Electricity Price by 12%, Figaro Says – Bloomberg
The French government plans to cut the price paid by Electricite de France SA for solar-generated electricity by 12 percent, Le Figaro reported, citing an unidentified person close to Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.The government yesterday informed the CRE energy regulator of its plan, the newspaper said.
1 Comment
[…] France has had a rocky relationship with solar energy.Unlike other European countries France gets a huge amount of electricity from renewable sources namely nuclear energy.Its electricity prices are one of the lowest and it even exports electricity to neighbors.So the driver for increasing solar electricity is quite low in France compared to others like Spain and Italy.However France has seen a massive boom in solar installations in 2010 making it the 7th largest market in the world.France installed over 719 MW of solar in 2010 and faces a massive backlog of applications.The government got overwhelmed and called a sudden stop to all applications.The French government stupidly blamed Chinese solar panels for the solar deluge when it was its faulty solar Feed in Tariff Policy which was too generous. […]