Kretschmer calls for rescue of the solar industry in Saxony

Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer has increased pressure on the federal government following the announcement by solar manufacturer Meyer Burger that it is preparing to close a large plant in Saxony. "It is intolerable that despite the solar boom, German industry is facing such difficulties," said the CDU politician on Friday. The Minister Presidents had submitted a concrete proposal for the protection of the domestic economy. Now the German government must come to an agreement on the resilience bonus to save the country.

"Meyer Burger's investment of 130 million euros in Freiberg and many jobs are at stake," emphasized Kretschmer. The USA had closed the market for Chinese solar panels. As a result, Europe is currently being flooded with an overproduction of solar modules at dumping prices. Both the low prices from China and the US trade blockade are the cause of the crisis. "This is not a fair deal between trading partners," said the Minister President.

On Friday morning, the solar company Meyer Burger announced that it was preparing to close its plant in Freiberg, Saxony. Instead, the solar module manufacturer intends to ramp up production in the USA. The group justified the move with a lack of support from politicians to counteract current market distortions in solar modules. Other manufacturers in the solar industry have also recently threatened to close local plants: China is flooding the market for solar modules with price dumping and financial support from the state is needed to maintain the industry in Germany.

Meyer Burger claims that its Freiberg factory is the largest solar module production facility in Europe. 500 people are employed at the Freiberg site.