Indonesia should be making a bet as well. If they could develop an indigenous polysilicon manufacturing capacity it would go a long way toward meeting their Paris Accord goals. Part of the problem though is the legacy of Tom Steyer and his Farallon Capital's development of the country's coal. The coal Farallon financed is cheaper. More on Indonesia Sunday and Monday.
First up, from the U.S. Department of Commerce:
Commerce Department Adds Five Chinese Entities to the Entity List for Participating in China’s Campaign of Forced Labor Against Muslims in Xinjiang
The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added five Chinese entities to the Entity List for accepting or utilizing forced labor in the implementation of the People’s Republic of China’s campaign of repression against Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). This action targets these entities’ ability to access commodities, software, and technology subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and is part of a U.S. Government-wide effort to take strong action against China’s ongoing campaign of repression against Muslim minority groups in the XUAR.
The entities to be added to the Entity List in connection with participating in the practice of, accepting, or utilizing forced labor involving Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in the XUAR are:
- Hoshine Silicon Industry (Shanshan) Co., Ltd.
- Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co., Ltd.
- Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd.
- Xinjiang GCL New Energy Material Technology Co., Ltd.
- Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC)
... MORE
The three bolded names are polysilicon manufacturers. Daqo and GCL's parent are top ten in the world.
And from Quartz, June 24:
India’s solar industry makes a huge bet on beating China
Reliance Industries, the Indian conglomerate with major stakes in everything from oil refining to telecommunications, will invest the equivalent of $10 billion over the next three years in facilities to manufacture clean energy hardware, chairman Mukesh Ambani said on June 24 at the company’s annual general meeting.
The investment is aimed at making Reliance a leading global player in the production of solar panels, batteries, “green” hydrogen made from renewable energy that can be used as a low-carbon power source for factories and vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cells. “We are launching our new energy business with the aim of bridging the green energy divide in India and globally,” Ambani said.
India and China compete on clean energy
The scale of the investment, coming from one company, is considerable.
About $500 billion was invested in clean energy globally in 2020, according to Bloomberg, more than half of which went into solar and wind farms and other forms of power-generation capacity, rather than the manufacturing facilities that Reliance is planning.
There are new tax incentives and government mandates for renewables in India, and a likely desire to compete with China, which currently has five solar panel factories for every one in India, the second-biggest global producer.
On green hydrogen, a nascent industry that has struggled to find a foothold, “from a global perspective, it’s a huge development as the availability of cheap and affordable electrolyzers would help the industry cut down costs,” Abhinav Bhaskar, an analyst with the research firm Rystad Energy, told Quartz.
Earlier this month, India’s power minister said that the government will soon require some industrial facilities to purchase hydrogen to offset coal consumption. That includes industries in which Reliance itself already has extensive operations, including refining oil and producing fertilizer and steel—so its biggest customer could be itself.
The solar buildout is likely designed to tap a new $600 million fund the Indian government announced in May to support a domestic solar supply chain that can compete with China, said Jenny Chase, head solar analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. But even a big company like Reliance may struggle to break into the solar panel business overnight, she said.
“Making polysilicon is difficult and requires substantial chemical expertise, and plants seldom ramp up in three years. Many polysilicon plants set up by new entrants fail altogether,” she said. “In short, I think this is more talk than anything else at this point.”....
....MORE
