Germany’s biggest solar panel producer, Meyer Burger, will not close down its plant and move to the US, the company announced on Monday (26 August).
Meyer Burger announced the closure of its German solar cell manufacturing plant, with a stated output capacity of 650 MW per year, in January. Today, however, it announced that its planned factory in Colorado Springs, USA, will not be built, the firm said in a statement.
This means that the German plant continues to operate, despite not being granted the government subsidies the firm requested.
“The existing cell production site in […] Germany, will continue to operate at full capacity and – unlike previously planned – will also form the backbone of Meyer Burger’s solar cell supply in the future,” said the company.
Production in Germany was “the most economical option” to supply its module assembly lines, added the firm.
The announcement amounted to, “good news for Germany as a business location,” said the director of the NGO, Environmental Action Germany, stated Sascha Müller-Krämer on X, while renewing calls for a “scheme to promote the domestic photovoltaics industry.”
A German subsidy scheme for solar panels produced domestically, could not be adopted by the Berlin government, due to staunch opposition from the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), earlier in the year.
Supporters of the subsidies cited the case of Meyer Burger as an example of what should be avoided, at the time.
Additionally, Meyer Burger would cut back its ambitions to profit from the multi-billion US subsidy scheme, the Inflation Reduction Act, by drawing on fewer tax credits to finance its expansion into the country, the firm explained.
The company’s stock has been falling since a temporary mid-2023 recovery, dropping a further 47%, following the announcement.
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