According to the French photovoltaic magazine, Recom's French subsidiary, photovoltaic module manufacturer Recom Sillia, was declared liquidated by the Commercial Court of Saint-Brieuc, leading to the closure of its Sillia module factory in France.
In 2014, Sillia acquired the photovoltaic module factory in Lannion from the German company Bosch Group. In July 2017, Sillia was acquired by another Recom subsidiary, Recom-Italia, when its module production capacity was only 50MW. Over the following years, with increased investment and financing, Sillia's capacity continuously grew, reaching 500MW, making Recom Sillia the only and largest Bloomberg Tier 1 photovoltaic module manufacturer in Europe.
Europe has recently seen multiple closures of photovoltaic module factories, resulting in a total loss of 3GW of module capacity since the second half of 2023, as reported by the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC). These include the largest module manufacturer Meyerberger, Energetica, Exasun, Solarwatt with capacities of more than 100 megawatts, as well as Flisom, Envelon, Systovi and others, with locations throughout Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and France.This is due to bankruptcies or shutdowns amid intense market competition and inadequate support policies, forcing more photovoltaic enterprises out of Europe.
Recom's module production will move from France to Italy, with specific capacity details unknown. The company is set to soon complete the technical upgrade of this factory and resume operations at its module production facility in Padua, Italy. Similar to other companies, the lack of action on renewable energy challenges by the French government was a primary reason for Recom's management decision to leave France.
In fact, as recently as April this year, the French Minister of Economy and Finance announced government support for "Made in France" photovoltaic modules through subsidies and revised carbon content standards. From mid-year, France will also strengthen carbon content standards in government tenders for rooftop photovoltaic projects and increase incentives for the use of "low-carbon" photovoltaic modules in small ground-mounted projects.
To achieve a doubling of the annual installation capacity of solar power plants in France to 6GW, the French government plans to fund two photovoltaic modulemanufacturing plants led by French startups Carbon SAS and HoloSolis SAS, with a total investment of 2.2 billion euros (approximately 17.246 billion yuan), providing them with tax credits and additional financial support. However, the disappointment has not accumulated overnight; previously mentioned CRE tender regulations have continuously been unimplemented, and the government's longstanding indifferent attitude towards renewable energy has exhausted Recom's patience.
Source：Global PV
