The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) also believes that the Saxon state government has a duty to preserve solar production in Freiberg, which is threatened with closure. "What we need now is not just aid from the federal government, but an active state government that takes responsibility and creates conditions for such important production that keep low-cost production in the state," BSW head Sabine Zimmermann told the German Press Agency in Dresden on Friday.
"The announcement by Freiberg solar manufacturer Meyer Burger to relocate its production to the USA is a catastrophe for the employees and the region. But the reaction of our Saxon state government is just as catastrophic," emphasized Zimmermann. Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) is now calling loudly for aid from the federal government in order to "distract attention from our own strategic failures".
"It has been known for months that cheap Chinese products are putting pressure on our domestic production. Such a development does not happen overnight. What do we have a Green energy minister for?" asked Zimmermann in the direction of Energy and Environment Minister Wolfram Günther. Whoever bears political responsibility must ensure that environmentally friendly products are also affordable.
Meyer Burger announced on Thursday that it had stopped module production at its plant in Freiberg, Saxony. The closure of the factory is still being prepared. If politicians do not change course, most of the approximately 500 employees in Freiberg will definitely be out of work on April 30, it said. The Swiss company had already announced in February that it would cease production there in the first half of March in order to make savings. The background to this is competition from cheap solar modules from China. The company and representatives of the industry have so far appealed unsuccessfully to the German government to promote solar products from European manufacturers through bonuses.
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