The Swiss solar company, Meyer Burger, has made an announcement that it is considering to gradually close its factory located in the city of Freiberg in the German state of Saxony. The decision to close the factory was made public on Friday by the company which has its operations based in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.
The company indicated that the cessation of production at the factory is slated to begin in the first half of March. Meyer Burger has the expectation that this move will result in significant cost savings starting from April. The official closure of the factory is planned to take effect at the end of April.
In lieu of the closure, the solar module manufacturing company has expressed its intention to increase its production capacity in the United States. This is not a new idea as Meyer Burger has mentioned this step on multiple occasions in the past.
Meyer Burger expresses dissatisfaction over lack of help against “market distortions”
Meyer Burger justified its decision to close the factory, citing that there has been no political decision made yet to aid in rectifying the current market distortions which are characterized by an oversupply and dumping prices of solar modules.
With its factory in Freiberg, Meyer Burger is proud to own the largest solar module production company in Europe. The Freiberg factory currently employs about 500 workers.
Other companies in the solar industry have recently threatened to close their local plants as well. These companies argue that the Chinese market is flooding the solar module market with price dumping, making financial support from the state necessary to preserve the industry in Germany.
CDU Vice President Jung: Do not make future energy completely dependent on China
In response to Meyer Burger’s announcement, the deputy chairman of the CDU, Andreas Jung, criticized the federal government for its failures. He argued that such investment decisions are against Germany and this approach endangers jobs in the East and the country’s future energy security.
Jung warned that Germany should not compromise its future energies and become completely dependent on China. He pointed out that the federal government has failed to react to the current situation, emphasizing that decisive action is now required.
