BNEF: Temporary tariffs to stimulate imports of U.S. modules!

According to BloombergNEF research, government policy has hindered the development of the US solar industry, but the situation will improve in the second half of 2022 due to a policy turnaround.

From January to November 2022, the value of imported photovoltaic modules in the United States is about 7.96 billion US dollars. Among them, 73.5% (approximately US$5.85 billion) came from Southeast Asian countries, namely Cambodia (7.5%), Malaysia (17.4%), Thailand (14.2%) and Vietnam (34.3% ) .

U.S. Imports of Photovoltaic Modules (January-November 2022)

In April 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce began to investigate whether photovoltaic modules imported from these countries contain components made in China , and these  modules may be subject to higher import tariffs.

The probe cooled U.S. markets, but conditions improved in June 2022 when the White House announced a moratorium on such tariffs for at least two years. As a result, we have seen that since August last year, the import volume of US modules has started to increase. In November 2022, the import value of photovoltaic modules in the United States increased from US$422 million to US$1.17 billion, a year-on-year increase of 178%.

In 2022, the United States will add 21GW of new solar capacity, down from 24GW in 2021. Combined with the addition of 11GW of new wind capacity, the U.S. added a total of 32GW of renewable energy capacity last year, down 5GW from the 37GW expected in 2021. It was the first year-on-year decline since 2018, as developers grapple with convoluted supply chains and higher costs.

Overview of U.S. Renewable Energy Capacity: by Technology Type

Lisa Jacobson, chair of the Sustainable Energy Business Council, said, "It has been a year of volatility in global energy markets. A broad technology portfolio helps ensure the clean energy transition continues. For sustainable energy growth to 2022, effective implementation of recent Climate and infrastructure legislation, a sound federal permitting process and siting reform are a must."

In terms of power generation, renewable energy will account for 22.7% of total U.S. power generation in 2022, an increase of about two percentage points from 21% in 2021 and the highest share since 2012. Electricity generation reached 974TWh last year, up from 864TWh in 2021, representing a year-on-year increase of 12.7%.

US Electricity Generation: by Fuel Type

In 2022, US corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) will reach a record 19.9GW, surpassing the previous record of 17.1GW in 2021. Of last year's total, 16.2GW was solar capacity, up from 13.5GW in 2021.

Renewable energy contracted capacity by enterprise and industry

 At the same time, technology companies in the United States are actively purchasing clean energy. For example, Amazon, the main buyer , procured 8.4GW, of which 7.1GW was solar. Other major buyers in the US in 2022 include Meta (2.3GW) and Google (1.2GW).