The European Union has imposed five-year tariffs on solar glass from China to help EU producers counter alleged Chinese subsidies and price-undercutting. The duties as high as 36.1% punish Chinese exporters such as Xinyi PV Products (Anhui) and Zhejiang Jiafu Glass. The glass is used in solar panels, which are themselves the target of European anti-subsidy and anti-dumping levies against China. EU solar-glass producers such as Glasmanufaktur Brandenburg suffered “material injury” as a result of subsidized and dumped imports from China, the European Commission said. The five-year duties took effect on May 15. Chinese exporters increased their share of the €200 million EU solar-glass market to 30.5% in 2012 from 7.2% in 2009. The five-year anti-dumping levies range from 0.4% to 36.1%, depending on the Chinese exporter. Xinyi PV Products faces the maximum rate. The five-year anti-subsidy levies range from 3.2% to 17.1%, with Xinyi PV also facing the minimum rate. Beyond solar panels, the EU’s other anti-subsidy levies against China target steel and paper. In two continuing investigations, the EU is also threatening to impose anti-subsidy duties on glass fibers and polyester staple fibers from China.

Experts say Chinese can learn from their German counterparts about renewable power production, development and on-grid pricing systems to accelerate the country’s clean energy industry and strengthen the cooperation between the two nations. Based on a long history of cooperation in the new energy industry, China has accumulated experience and boosted technologies in both solar and wind power generation in the past years. Tao Guangyuan, Executive Director of the Sino-German Renewable Energy Center, which was jointly established by the German Energy Agency and the China Renewable Energy Industry Association, said that China should develop long-distance and high-voltage electricity transmission lines on a large scale to boost wind power and photovoltaic solar power generation. “Because of the instability of solar and wind electricity, much energy is wasted during transmission,” he said at a clean-energy forum. At present, wind electricity generation accounts for nearly 10% of Germany’s total power output. The figure has the potential to grow to about 20% in future. Several Chinese alternative energy companies have been cooperating with German partners. TrinaSolar has shared technology and sold its solar panels in Germany. It established a local office in Munich in 2009. Germany accounted for 10.4% of the company’s global sales revenue in 2013. The company is a member of Watt 2.0, the German Association for Renewable Energy, Environment and Sustainability. So far, its biggest solar-panel installation project in Germany was the solar farm Eggebek with 83 megawatt (MW). The Chinese National Energy Conservation Center and the German Energy Agency signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Berlin in February to exchange ideas and information and jointly develop energy-saving strategies at national and municipal levels, the China Daily reports.

Ongoing urbanization and the battle with smog pollution has created a huge market for generating heat from industrial waste that has attracted foreign investment and technology. “China’s market for industrial waste heat recovery and utilization is maturing faster than it was three years ago when we started such projects,” said Wu Song, Executive Director of China Operations with Johnson Control’s Building Efficiency Business. However, he added that the market’s value was “hard to calculate specifically”. In 2013, the company signed contracts in China totaling about CNY200 million, helping power plants and companies in the oil, mining and coal chemical industries to reuse waste heat. At present, the company runs more than 20 projects in China, five in the oilfields sector, according to Hao Li, Manager of Johnson Control’s Building Efficiency (BE) operations in Northern China. China accounts for about 10% of the global revenue of the company’s BE unit, ranking it No 1 ahead of the United States. “We see many U.S. companies with related technology wanting to come to China. They are either developing products for the market or doing research to decide their direction”, Hao said. To encourage energy conservation and cut waste, the Beijing local government offers 50% subsidies to companies using new-type heat pumps, according to Johnson Control.

A Hong Kong property tycoon has spent the past year accumulating stakes in failing solar companies, piecing together what may become the biggest collection of photovoltaic factories in the world. Zheng Jianming has spent or pledged about USD533 million to buy assets that at their peak were worth almost USD20 billion, according to regulatory filings in the United States and Hong Kong, where he has a home and office. The transactions, if completed, would transform Zheng, a newcomer to the solar industry, into one of its most powerful leaders. Another of Zheng’s investments in 2012, a 30% stake in Shunfeng Photovoltaic International, has surged more than 2,900% and is now worth more than USD745 million. Zheng prefers to stay under the radar and declined to answer questions by the China Daily. Almost a dozen solar-industry analysts on three continents also said they knew nothing about him beyond his name. Zheng’s deals would help China consolidate factories responsible for more than half the world’s panels. The solar industry is emerging from a two-year slump that was triggered in part by expanding production capacity among Chinese suppliers. The oversupply of panels ate into margins and eroded profits, and helped push some companies into bankruptcy. The recovery is driven mainly by increasing demand that’s soaking up the overcapacity. Installations in China alone reached 12 gigawatt (GW) last year as the country became the biggest solar market, and may exceed that figure this year. Global installations this year may increase 27% from last year to 49 GW. Through holding companies, Zheng owns 21.6% of LDK Solar, the second-biggest supplier of photovoltaic wafers in 2012.

China’s clean-energy industry faces record debt payments this quarter, heightening a battle for survival after solar panel maker Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology became the first onshore bond issuer to default. Companies generating power from the sun, wind and water must pay the equivalent of USD4.2 billion in onshore and offshore notes by June 30, 10 times more than the previous quarter. The average yield on five-year AA-rated securities has jumped 171 basis points in the past year to 7.% on concern over delinquencies. That compares with 2.86% on corporate bonds globally, Bank of America Merrill Lynch indices show. “The worst isn’t over,” said Shi Lei, head of fixed-income research at Ping An Securities. “Many solar or wind companies rely on foreign or domestic government subsidies. It’s possible that another company in the industry may default.” Authorities are trying to cut capacity in the solar and other green-energy industries after over-production caused equipment prices to tumble. Shang Fulin, Chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said on March 11 that it would seek to limit lending to industries with overcapacity. Five out of 12 companies were flagged by China International Capital Corp (CICC) as having outstanding onshore bonds in “great need” of more scrutiny after credit profile changes were in the green-energy industry.