Hanwha QCells Solar Cells Seized by US Customs

PVTIME – Solar cells manufactured by Hanwha QCells in South Korea and destined for the company’s factory in Georgia have been seized by US customs authorities. This information comes from a social media post published on Tuesday, 5 August by Christian Roselund, a senior policy analyst at the Clean Energy Association. Mr Roselund cited a report from the South Korean daily newspaper Dong-A Ilbo. The seizures, which began in June, are linked to the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA).

Hanwha has stated that it is currently explaining to US customs authorities that it has not violated any relevant regulations, and that it is cooperating fully with their requests for information. Hanwha QCells has described the quantity of seized products as small and says it will not hinder local production. However, the situation could change if this continues for an extended period.

Some interpretations suggest that the customs clearance issues could be related to changes in US environmental policies. The Trump administration is scaling back subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that were originally planned for distribution during former President Joe Biden’s tenure.

Hanwha QCells is understood to be investing 3.2 trillion won in the construction of a comprehensive solar production base in Georgia, USA. Currently, the company only operates a module factory in the US, where solar cells are assembled into modules. However, the company plans to achieve full vertical integration of raw materials and components, from ingots (polysilicon blocks) and wafers to solar cells, by the end of this year, and the comprehensive production base is also set to be completed by then.

Hanwha had previously estimated that, if construction of the comprehensive solar production base proceeded smoothly, it would receive more than 900 billion won in subsidies from the US government this year. However, it has recently revised this target down to around 700 billion won.