Biden’s photo voltaic ambitions collide with China labor complaints – KIRO 7 Information Seattle

BEIJING – (AP) – The Biden government’s ambitions in solar energy clash with complaints that global industry depends on Chinese raw materials, which may be produced through forced labor.

A major hurdle is polysilicon, which is used to manufacture photovoltaic cells for solar modules. Global industry sources 45% of its supply from Xinjiang, the northwest region, where the ruling Communist Party is accused of mass minority incarceration and other abuses. Other parts of China provide 35%. Only 20% are from US and other manufacturers.

Biden’s climate officer John Kerry says Washington is deciding whether to keep solar products from Xinjiang out of US markets. This conflicts with President Joe Biden’s plans to cut climate change-related carbon emissions by promoting solar and other renewable energies while cutting costs.

In Xinjiang, more than 1 million Uyghurs and other members of predominantly Muslim ethnic groups have been forced to internment camps, according to foreign researchers and governments. The authorities are accused of having forcibly sterilized minorities and destroyed mosques.

Chinese officials deny abuse allegations, saying the camps are intended for vocational training aimed at economic development and deterring radicalism.

The US and some Chinese solar suppliers have pledged to avoid suppliers who may be doing forced labor. However, it is not clear whether they can meet the growing demand without Xinjiang, where Beijing does not allow independent inspections of workplaces.

The largest manufacturers all use raw materials from Xinjiang and have a “high risk of forced labor in their supply chains” according to a report by researchers Laura T. Murphy and Nyrola Elimaat of Sheffield Hallam University in the UK on May 14.

The possibility of forced labor “is an issue,” Kerry told US lawmakers last week. He cited “solar panels which we believe are made by forced labor in some cases”.

Western governments have imposed travel and financial restrictions on Chinese officials blamed for the abuse. The US government has banned imports of cotton and tomatoes from Xinjiang, citing concerns about forced labor.

The government was considering extending this ban to solar panels and raw materials from Xinjiang, Kerry said. He said he did not know the status of this review.

It is the government’s “job transfer” program, which places workers in companies in Xinjiang.

Chinese officials say it is voluntary, but Murphy and Elimaat argue that it is taking place in an “environment of unprecedented coercion” and “underpinned by the constant threat of re-education and internment”.

“Many indigenous workers are unable to turn down or leave these jobs,” the report said. The programs are said to be “synonymous with forcible population transfers and enslavement”.

Murphy and Elimaat said they found 11 companies that force Uyghurs and other minorities to perform forced labor, as well as 90 Chinese and foreign companies whose supply chains are affected. They said manufacturers need to make “significant changes” if they are to avoid suppliers who do forced labor.

Murphy and Elimaat say the world’s largest manufacturers of solar panels – JinkoSolar Inc., LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Trina Solar Energy Co., and JA Solar Holdings Co. – may have used forced labor in their supply chains.

Trina and JinkoSolar also have “potential work transfers” in factories, according to Fabriken and Elimaat, while a JinkoSolar facility is located in an industrial park that also houses a prison.

JinkoSolar, LONGi, Trina and JA Solar did not immediately respond to questions about the report.

At the same time, a supply crisis due to soaring demand has pushed polysilicon prices more than 100% to a nine-year high since January.

The market is “already undersupplied,” said Johannes Bernreuter, head of German Bernreuter research, in an email.

China is both the largest global solar systems market and the largest manufacturer.

This reflects the billions in government spending over the past two decades to promote solar energy. The ruling party wants to curb its dependence on imported oil and gas, which it sees as security weaknesses, and to take the lead in an emerging industry.

A glut of supply when hundreds of Chinese manufacturers entered the industry 15 years ago caused prices to fall. This has harmed western competitors, but accelerated the adoption of solar in the US and Europe.

Seven of the top ten global producers are Chinese. Canadian Solar Inc. is registered in Canada but is manufactured in China. South Korea’s Hanwha Q-Cells is number 6.

The only US manufacturer in the top 10, First Solar Inc., is not involved in the Xinjiang polysilicon supply chain because the Tempe, Arizona company uses thin film technology that does not require polysilicon.

Vendors serving the US and European markets can likely get enough polysilicon outside of Xinjiang, Bernreuter said. But he said supplies could be squeezed if other countries made the same demands.

Potential non-Chinese suppliers include the German Wacker Chemie AG and the Malaysian branch of the South Korean OCI Co.

However, according to Murphy and Elimaat, these companies also buy polysilicon from Xinjiang’s largest supplier, Hoshine Silicon Industry Co.,. They cited documents that they said show that Hoshine, also known as Hesheng, is participating in the “transfer of work.”

Hoshine did not immediately respond to questions about the report.

US solar energy suppliers have been trying to revamp their supply chains to eliminate problematic suppliers since last year, according to their trading group, the Solar Energy Industries Association.

In February, 175 companies, including U.S. arms JinkoSolar, LONGi, Trina and JA Solar, signed a pledge to oppose the use of forced labor by their suppliers.

Possible changes should be made by the end of June, according to Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the group.

“If your customers and the US government so request, act quickly,” Ross Hopper told PV Magazine USA in February.

Bernreuter warned the Chinese government “may get involved in an overhaul” although there is no evidence that it has happened.

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Sheffield Hallam University report: www.shu.ac.uk/helena-kennedy-centre-international-justice/research-and-projects/all-projects/in-broad-daylight

Bernreuter research: www.bernreuter.com

Association of the Solar Energy Industry: www.seia.org