LONGi 1.5 GW Europe Project, Enery Partnership, and the EU’s 100% Solar Tariff Debate (2021-2026)

EU Solar Dependency Risks: Chinese Manufacturing Dominance vs. European Industrial Policy

The European Union’s rapid solar expansion is fundamentally dependent on Chinese manufacturing, creating a critical risk as new industrial policies like tariffs and local content rules threaten to slow deployment and increase costs. This dynamic has created a bifurcated market where climate goals and industrial strategy are in direct conflict.

• Between 2021 and 2024, a massive influx of low-cost Chinese solar panels fueled record EU solar installation growth, meeting the bloc’s urgent energy demands. This led to a huge inventory backlog, with an estimated 60 GW of modules sitting in European warehouses by the end of 2024, which drove prices to historic lows.
• From 2025 to 2026, the EU responded with an aggressive policy counteroffensive, including the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and reported 100% tariffs on Chinese clean tech to protect its domestic industry.
• The market’s underlying dependency was validated in June 2026 with the LONGi-Enery partnership for a 1.5 GW project pipeline. This deal shows that major European developers still require Chinese technology for project bankability and cost-competitiveness, even with new trade barriers in place.
• The result is a fractured European Solar Market 2026. A protected, high-cost “Made in EU” segment is emerging for public tenders, while the larger private utility, commercial, and residential markets remain intensely price-sensitive and reliant on imports.

EU Industrial Policy: 100% Tariffs and the Industrial Accelerator Act

The EU activated a multi-pronged policy offensive in 2026 to counter its dependency on Chinese imports, deploying tariffs, non-price criteria in tenders, and carbon pricing to reshore its solar manufacturing base. These measures represent the most significant challenge to Chinese solar dominance in Europe to date.

• The Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), also referred to as the Industrial Accelerator Act and effective from 2026, mandates the use of non-price criteria, including “Made in EU” requirements, in public procurement and renewable energy auctions. Italy has already pioneered this with a landmark 1.1 GW solar tender exclusively for NZIA-compliant projects.
• The definitive phase of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) began on January 1, 2026. This policy is projected to add €40-50/k Wp in carbon taxes on imported modules, potentially increasing the cost of Chinese products by 20-30% and eroding their price advantage.
• The most direct measure reported in March 2026 is the EU’s adoption of a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese clean tech, including solar panels. This policy is designed to make European-made modules immediately price-competitive by doubling the cost of imports.
• Adding another layer of compliance and risk, the EU’s Forced Labour Regulation is set to take effect in 2026. It will ban any product linked to forced labor, placing intense pressure on companies to ensure full supply chain traceability, a known challenge in China’s polysilicon industry.

Table: Key EU Industrial and Trade Policies Affecting Solar Imports in 2026

LONGi 1.5 GW Enery Partnership Highlights European Market Dependency

The strategic alliance between LONGi and Austrian developer Enery for a 1.5 GW pipeline exemplifies the EU’s core dilemma: achieving rapid renewable deployment requires partnering with the very Chinese technology giants that its industrial policy seeks to constrain.

• The partnership, announced in June 2026, positions LONGi as the primary technology provider for 50% of Enery’s 1.5 GW solar project pipeline slated for development in 2026 and 2027 across Central and Eastern Europe.
• Enery’s selection of LONGi, a Bloomberg NEF Tier 1 manufacturer, underscores the market reality that Chinese suppliers offer the most bankable, cost-effective, and high-efficiency technology essential for the financial viability of large-scale projects.
• This deal demonstrates that despite new EU tariffs and local content rules, private developers will continue sourcing from China to ensure project success in the highly competitive utility-scale market segment.
• LONGi is simultaneously deepening its European footprint beyond modules. The company has become a Tier 1 provider of battery energy storage systems (BESS) and delivered its first electrolyzer system for a green hydrogen project in Europe in January 2026.

Table: LONGi Strategic Partnerships and Market Penetration in Europe (2026)

Europe’s Solar Boom: Germany’s 15 GW Lead and Deepening Reliance on Chinese Imports

Europe’s solar market experienced explosive growth in 2026, with solar generating a record 25% of EU electricity in June, but this expansion was built almost entirely on Chinese imports as domestic manufacturing played a negligible role.

• Germany led EU solar additions in 2026 with 15 GW, followed by Spain with 8 GW, contributing to a total of 65 GW of new capacity across the bloc. This demand is forecast to drive the European solar market to a value of $185.56 billion in 2026.
• This growth is serviced by imports, as China controls 80-90% of the global solar supply chain. By 2026, analysis showed that the EU’s domestic ingot, wafer, and cell production had “effectively disappeared.”
• In contrast to Europe’s dependency, the United States is attempting to build an independent supply chain through policies like the Inflation Reduction Act, which has driven massive investment in domestic manufacturing by companies like First Solar and Qcells.
• The market dynamics highlight a stark choice. Relying on cost-effective Chinese imports allows for rapid deployment to meet climate goals, but it comes at the cost of industrial sovereignty and exposes the EU to supply chain and geopolitical risks.

Technology Race: LONGi’s 35.5% Perovskite Record vs. EU’s c-Si Lag

While the EU attempts to protect a legacy crystalline silicon (c-Si) manufacturing base where it has already lost competitive ground, Chinese firms like LONGi are extending their lead by setting new world records in next-generation tandem cell technology.

• LONGi set a new world record for perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell efficiency at 35.5% in July 2026. This milestone, achieved on a commercial-grade wafer, demonstrates a clear leadership position in the research and development of the next generation of photovoltaic technology.
• In the commercial market, LONGi debuted its Hi-MO X 10 back contact modules at Intersolar 2026 with an efficiency of 24.1% and a power output of up to 650 W, showing its ability to translate R&D into high-performance products at scale.
• In contrast, Europe’s domestic manufacturing capacity is small and struggles with a significant cost gap. In late 2024, EU-made modules cost around $0.34 per watt, more than double the $0.15 per watt for modules from China.
• The EU’s policy focus on protecting its c-Si industry is a rear-guard action. A more viable strategy would be to concede the mature c-Si market and use policy tools to heavily subsidize a lead market for emerging technologies where a genuine innovation advantage could still be established.

EU Solar SWOT Analysis: Climate Goals vs. Industrial Policy Conflict

The EU’s solar strategy is defined by a central conflict between its strength in setting ambitious climate goals and its weakness in domestic manufacturing. This creates an opportunity for next-generation technology leadership but simultaneously threatens its current deployment pace with protectionist policies that increase costs.

• The EU’s primary strength is its strong market demand, driven by ambitious climate targets like the REPower EU plan, which created a massive and growing market for solar installations.
• Its critical weakness is a crippling dependency on Chinese imports across the entire solar value chain, from polysilicon to finished modules, resulting in a severe and persistent cost gap for local manufacturers.
• The opportunity lies in pivoting away from a losing battle in conventional c-Si manufacturing and using industrial policy to create a protected, first-mover market for next-generation technologies like perovskite-silicon tandem cells.
• The main threat is that the current policy mix of high tariffs and local content rules will inflate project costs, slow the pace of solar deployment, and ultimately jeopardize the EU’s ability to meet its 2030 climate and energy targets.

2027 EU Solar Outlook: Policy Collision, LONGi, and a Bifurcated Market

The most critical scenario for the EU solar market in 2027 is a policy-induced fragmentation, where high-cost, locally-made panels serve a protected public segment while the broader market struggles with import tariffs, potentially slowing the overall energy transition.

• If the EU maintains its reported 100% tariff on Chinese modules, watch for a significant slowdown in private utility-scale project announcements and a potential increase in project cancellations due to unsustainable capital expenditure.
• In this scenario, Chinese firms like LONGi will be compelled to either establish European assembly plants to access the “Made in EU” public tender market or partner with local producers, while continuing to supply other global regions from their low-cost Chinese base.
• A key signal to monitor is the price differential between modules sold into the protected EU public tender market versus the price of standard imported modules, including tariffs. A wide and persistent gap would validate the market bifurcation and indicate that policy is creating a two-tiered system.
• An alternative path would involve the EU pivoting away from broad tariffs and focusing subsidies specifically on next-generation technology. Should this occur, watch for a surge in R&D partnerships between European research institutes and manufacturers to accelerate the commercialization of perovskite and other advanced PV technologies.

The questions your competitors are already asking

This report covers one angle of the EU’s solar industrial policy. The questions that matter most depend on your work.

• Chinese solar manufacturers building factories in Europe
• US solar manufacturing projects funded by government
• Solar project cost difference EU vs non EU panels
• European companies developing perovskite solar cells

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