The 8-year RCEP agreement was officially signed on November 15. The full name of RCEP is "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement". It was initiated by 10 ASEAN countries in 2012 and invited China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and India to participate. It aims to establish unity by reducing tariffs and non-tariff barriers. market free trade agreement.
Except for India, which still has some unresolved important issues, the agreement signed by the remaining fifteen countries means that each other will provide convenience to all parties based on the agreement.
Earlier this year, Energy One conducted a relatively complete review of the overseas factories, contact points and offices of inverter and component manufacturers. The following is the specific information. Since the beginning of this year, companies including JA Solar Technology and Longi have also successively acquired and built a number of overseas bases. Many of these Chinese overseas offices and investment projects belong to the Asia-Pacific countries where RCEP is located.
Therefore, the following companies will benefit from the signing of the RCEP agreement and gain greater business growth opportunities and development space.
Therefore, the establishment of RCEP will greatly benefit the new energy trade between China and neighboring countries, and will also bring more convenience to Chinese companies in the future deployment of new energy products and markets in these regions.
For example, Chinese-funded overseas factories located across Asia can directly copy China's manufacturing capabilities with slight changes, and export finished products to the United States and other countries that have set up trade barriers to Chinese photovoltaics. place.
Chinese companies themselves can also use better trade policies to maintain better relations and communication with the countries where the RCEP agreement is located, thereby driving China and trading partner countries to expand the new energy industry together.
During the epidemic, companies with overseas production capacity and strong distribution channels have greatly improved the smoothness of doing business with friends around the world. Although the geographical advantages of Chinese companies cannot be fully reflected, due to their deep-rooted overseas factories, Offices and third-party partnerships enable business collaboration not to be troubled by epidemic issues. In the first three quarters of this year, Chinese A-share and U.S.-share companies that performed well were precisely the above-mentioned companies.
From the perspective of the module market, Chint New Energy, JinkoSolar, LONGi, Trina Solar, GCL, etc. have deployed a large number of product production lines around the world, many of which are located in Asia and other places. Good overseas factories, and some manufacturers also have the production capacity of overseas silicon wafers, brackets and other peripheral partners, have brought great convenience to the company's export trade.
In the field of inverters, including Huawei Smart Photovoltaics, Growatt, Ginlang Technology, AISWEI, Goodwe and other inverter manufacturers, they can use their huge distribution network and local sales personnel to undertake and ensure product supply during the epidemic.
With the signing of RCEP, the strategic significance of Chinese companies’ global expansion becomes even more profound. Relevant details show that tariffs and non-tariff barriers can be gradually eliminated in all goods trade in the countries where RCEP is located. The agreement states that cooperation should be expanded to other areas, including but not limited to banking, finance, tourism, industrial cooperation, transportation, telecommunications, intellectual property, small and medium-sized enterprises, environment, biotechnology, fisheries, forestry and forestry products, mining, energy and sub-sectors. Regional development, etc. Therefore, Chinese new energy companies that need support from financial and industrial partners will also receive more benefits in the medium and long term.
Combined with the fact that many countries have announced carbon neutrality goals, we will find that the opportunities for Chinese new energy manufacturers will also be further expanded in the future. In September, my country announced that it would strive to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. The following October, South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced in a speech in Congress that South Korea would achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In November this year, there was news in Japan that it was considering tax incentives to achieve its 2020 carbon neutrality goal. Previously, New Zealand had completed legislation on its carbon neutrality target.
Under the general trend, other countries are expected to gradually set carbon neutrality goals.
The energy industry is an important breakthrough in achieving the goal of carbon neutrality. The agreement signed by the 15 countries will bring more development opportunities to domestic and foreign renewable energy companies. From the perspective of photovoltaic layout, we will take a look at the new energy business development of Chinese companies in the countries where the RCEP agreement is located, as well as the new energy goals set by these countries themselves.
ASEAN countries have the most abundant biomass energy, geothermal energy, and hydro energy resources, and wind energy, solar energy, and tidal energy have great potential. Chinese companies have considerable photovoltaic project layouts in various ASEAN countries. The following is an inventory of Chinese companies' photovoltaic layouts in Vietnam and Thailand as representatives.
Vietnam’s photovoltaic market has always been an important area for Chinese companies to compete for. Chinese companies’ photovoltaic layout in Vietnam includes large-scale photovoltaic projects, factory establishment, production capacity acquisition, product exports, etc.
In 2019, China exported 4.48GW of photovoltaic modules to Vietnam. This year, China’s deployment of the Vietnamese market is also in full swing. Concerns about the epidemic have not affected the progress of related projects.
In February this year, LONGi acquired 3GW of cells and 7GW of components from a production base in Vietnam; in May, Power Construction signed a contract for the 550MW photovoltaic power generation project in Luning, Vietnam; in June, PowerChina signed a contract for the 330MW Phu My photovoltaic power generation project in Vietnam. Power generation project contract; in November, the groundbreaking ceremony for the 3.5GW annual output high-power module project of JA Technology's Vietnam base was successfully held. The project used the existing land of the Vietnam base and invested 700 million yuan to build a 3.5GW annual output high-power module production line and Supporting facilities. These layouts are also based on the comprehensive judgment that Vietnam has advantages as a good product export destination, trade, land, personnel and new energy policies.
According to many domestic sales and project development managers responsible for the Vietnamese market, Vietnam’s newly installed photovoltaic capacity this year is around 3.5 to 4GW. The RCEP signed this time may further expand the layout of Chinese companies in the Vietnamese photovoltaic market.
Thailand, which also belongs to the ten "ASEAN" countries, is also a key market for Chinese companies. In February this year, China Energy Construction signed a 58.5MW floating photovoltaic EPC contract in Thailand; in April, China Energy Construction Gezhouba International bucked the trend and signed an EPC contract for a 90MW solar thermal photovoltaic project in Thailand, with an investment amount of up to US$500 million. Two months later, JA Solar Technology supplied high-efficiency PERC components to Thailand’s 12.5MW floating power station. The following August, China Energy Construction assisted the implementation of an 11.56MW photovoltaic parking lot in Thailand.
According to Thailand’s power development plan, Thailand’s total installed capacity of renewable energy power generation is expected to reach 17GW by 2036. Thailand still has a huge market for photovoltaic development.
Among the fifteen countries that have signed free trade agreements, South Korea deserves to be highlighted.
In July this year, South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy issued a policy: PV module suppliers should have low-carbon certification qualifications. This policy does not have a buffer period and requires immediate implementation. When Chinese photovoltaic companies applied for this certification, the Korean certification department refused to go to China for low-carbon certification on the grounds of the COVID-19 epidemic. The exports of Chinese companies that could not obtain certification to South Korea were hindered.
Domestic industry generally believes that South Korea’s move is an artificial trade barrier to China. The agreement signed this time clearly stipulates that the countries in the agreement will gradually eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers in virtually all trade in goods. South Korea's artificial trade barriers to China are expected to be resolved in a short time.
In May this year, South Korea also announced a long-term energy plan: by 2034, the proportion of renewable energy in South Korea’s energy structure will increase from the current 15.1 to 40. At the same time, the share of LNG power generation will drop from 32.3 to 31. After the trade barrier problem is resolved, Chinese companies are expected to show their talents in the Korean market.
The new energy market in Japan, another neighboring country, is also performing well, and Chinese companies are actively exploring new territories there. JinkoSolar, Huawei, etc. have already achieved amazing sales results in Japan.
In March this year, LONGi also signed a patent license agreement related to gallium doping with Japan's Shin-Etsu Group; in April, Japan's 82MW photovoltaic project was completed, all using aluminum alloy racks from domestic manufacturers; in June, Crystal Ao Technology announced that it will supply monocrystalline PERC MBB modules for a 110MW photovoltaic power station in the Kansai region of Japan. This project is one of the largest single projects in the Japanese market.
In October, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to virtually zero by 2050. In the same way, with the carbon-neutral target market layout dominated by renewable energy, the Japanese photovoltaic market also has huge potential in the future, and Chinese companies are also expected to make profits in the transaction process due to the free trade agreement.
New Zealand has completed legislation on its carbon neutrality target. Australia has not yet proposed a plan to achieve a net-zero emissions target or a carbon price by 2050. However, it stated in September this year that it plans to invest in energy technology in the next ten years. $18 billion to reduce carbon emissions.
China’s deployment in Australia includes the 132MW Merredin photovoltaic power station in Western Australia, the largest 132MW Merredin photovoltaic power station invested and constructed by Risen Energy, which was reported to be completed in January this year. In June this year, China Energy Construction Gezhouba International also signed an EPC project for an 85MW photovoltaic power station in Australia.
In the field of components and power plants, Chint New Energy, JinkoSolar, etc. all have a relatively extensive layout and channel partners in Australia. Core inverter manufacturers such as Growatt, Ginlang Technology, GoodWe, Sungrow, and AISWEI have also won many orders in Australia's distributed market and are well received by local consumers.
In New Zealand, the local power transmission state-owned enterprise Transpower stated in April this year that by 2050, New Zealand can meet the country's electricity demand through multi-energy generation based on wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower. In terms of installed capacity, New Zealand is expected to have a solar capacity of 6GW in 2050. Chinese companies have already launched corresponding market development in New Zealand. In the future, with the confirmation of RCEP, we will see more projects come to fruition.
Based on the relevant renewable energy plans of Australia and New Zealand, with the support of the free trade agreement, China may gain certain convenience in carrying out relevant project cooperation with the two countries.
Tariffs and non-tariff barriers have been an unavoidable problem in transactions between countries for a long time. They are either measures promulgated to protect domestic enterprises or to engage in unfair competition. However, it took eight years to The signed agreement shows to the world that only through cooperation can we win.
The common goal of countries around the world is ultimately to achieve "carbon neutrality". With the signing of the agreement, the pace of liberalizing the deployment of renewable energy, the goal of achieving "carbon neutrality" is just around the corner.