The solar company Meyer Burger made a huge loss last year. Module production at the Freiberg site in the German state of Saxony actually stopped in mid-March 2024. In the future, the company will look for luck in the USA.
Specifically, Meyer Burger’s sales fell to 135 million francs in 2023 (2022: 147.2 million), as Meyer Burger reports. Operationally (Ebitda), the company once again reported deep red figures with a loss of 163.6 million francs (2022: -34.6 million). The bottom line was that there was a very high loss of 291.9 million (2022: -69.9 million). Almost half of the loss was due to one-off effects.
At Meyer Burger, the focus is not just on the numbers. Rather, the company is once again concerned with the planned closure of the factory in Freiberg in eastern Germany. Production there actually stopped in mid-March, as they say. The hopes for more support from German politicians have apparently not been fulfilled for the time being.
Legend: The name of the group is written on a solar module in the Meyer Burger Technology AG factory in Freiberg. Keystone/dpa/HENDRIK SCHMIDT
Meyer Burger originally wanted to close the three-year-old factory in Freiberg at the end of February. Due to the dumping prices from China, production there was no longer worthwhile and the company wanted to draw a line under it due to “serious losses”.
In this context, Meyer Burger also complains that the EU is not adequately protecting the solar industry from highly subsidized Chinese competitors. With these uneven tables, “fair competition” is no longer possible and withdrawal is the logical consequence.
Around 500 employees will lose their jobs as a result. Meyer Burger wants to continue solar cell production in Thalheim (also in East Germany). Research and development should also remain in Switzerland and Germany.
Relocation to the USA
The production of solar modules and cells is to be relocated to the USA. The market there is well protected against cheap imports from China and the order books are well filled. That’s why we’re investing heavily in completing solar cell production in Colorado Springs and in solar module production in Goodyear, Arizona.
Meyer Burger initiated the investments in the USA several years ago. Production at the new plant in Goodyear in the US state of Arizona is scheduled to start as planned in the second quarter of 2024, Meyer Burger continued. Cell production in Colorado Springs, in turn, is scheduled to begin towards the end of 2024, provided that the necessary financing – as currently expected – comes about.
As is well known, the company wants to secure 200 to 250 million francs in fresh funds through a capital increase. By far Meyer Burger’s largest US customer, Desri, is taking part in this. “We are very pleased to be working with this important company,” said CEO Gunter Erfurt. Participation in the capital increase is a “great show of trust”.