• federalreverse-old@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    Not saying that the German solar industry was in great shape but …

    • The Chinese products were heavily subsidized as well.
    • The German governments at the time also made sure to kill the domestic market, with its “breathing” installation limits for wind and solar.
      • federalreverse-old@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        2022 Chinese renewable energy subsidies totalled 600 million USD. That’s peanuts.

        2020 Chinese renewable energy subsidies totalled 807 million USD.

        I was talking about 2010…2015 but you cited very recent numbers. I was talking about producers of polysilicon and panels, your numbers are for solar farms/wind farms/biomass generators. And they don’t seem to be complete, either.

        Germany, meanwhile, allocated 4 billion euros annually to subsidize electricity prices for industry.

        This plan is opposed by the chancelor and the minister of finance. Safe to say it won’t happen this year.

        • zephyreks@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          The link you sent refers to subsidies from previous years that haven’t actually been paid out yet. The Chinese government did the classic play of “here’s some subsidies jokes haha we’ll totally pay you ten years later if you’re not bankrupt by then haha.”

          So… Thanks for helping my point, I guess? For a historical perspective, China’s solar PV subsidies have been almost entirely demand-side with the exception of academic research grants, national labs, and poverty-alleviating policies.

          It’s not like subsidizing an emerging industry is that unusual: the problem is usually when people keep subsidizing output from that industry after it’s a mature competitor. German subsidies were at, what, 37c/kWh with 8877MW (8760 hours per year, 25% typical daily efficiency) installed in 2010? Those subsidies are massive, so either Germany is incompetent at solar PV development or neoliberal policies don’t work and the government should have been more active in managing the nascent industry.

          • federalreverse-old@feddit.de
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            1 year ago

            So… Thanks for helping my point, I guess?

            But you do realize that you quoted numbers for the wrong part of the economy in the wrong timeframe!?

            For a historical perspective, China’s solar PV subsidies have been almost entirely demand-side with the exception of academic research grants, national labs, and poverty-alleviating policies.

            Please let me know when you find any proof of that. There’s a reason why there is an entire solar supply chain concentrated in Xinjiang, rather than some more developed coastal region. (It’s subsidies.)

            • zephyreks@lemmy.ca
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              1 year ago

              (it’s cheaper labour and the fact that Xinjiang is literally the perfect place to deploy solar)