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Major solar panel plant opens in US amid backdrop of industry worries about imports_我的网站

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A | 　　重庆8月25日电(肖江川王津川梁勇)25日，重庆唯一具备周调节能力的抽水蓄能电站——中国大唐重庆武隆银盘抽水蓄能电站项目实现地下厂房中导洞全面贯通和导流泄洪洞进口顺利进洞两个关键节点的突破，这也为项目主体工程建设按期推进创造了有利条件。　　据介绍，项目地下厂房中导洞位于主副厂房一层中部，全长188.95米，开挖断面宽11米、高9.5米，洞室石方开挖量超过2.2万立方米。

B | A South Korean company has begun production at a huge new solar panel factory in Georgia even as industry leaders say surging Asian imports could dampen efforts to make more solar components in the United States.Qcells, a unit of South Korea’s Hanwha Group, said Wednesday that it can now turn out enough solar panels to generate 5.1 gigawatts of power yearly at a two-factory complex in the northwest Georgia city of Dalton. That's almost 40% of U.S. solar panel capacity, according to figures from the Solar Energy Industries Association. Qcells' opened its first factory in 2019 and an even larger plant in phases since, what the company describes as the largest solar investment in American history. “It’s another milestone as we as a company really strive to become a global leader and a U.S. leader in solar manufacturing," said Scott Moskowitz, Qcells head of market strategy and public affairs, speaking with The Associated Press after a plant tour Monday.The company says its new plant is the first solar module factory in the U.S. to begin production since passage of President Joe Biden’s signature climate legislation. Qcells' $208 million investment again shows how federal incentives are spurring a nationwide boom in renewable energy and electric vehicles.Industry jitters about a flood of cheap solar panels from overseas show how dependent on federal policy the solar industry remains. That's a threat in part because former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, is hostile to renewable energy.Qcells leaders say the new plant showcases more efficient equipment and processes, part of a much larger investment intended to bring key steps in solar manufacturing to the U.S. A solar panel, or module, is assembled from solar cells most commonly made from wafers cut from ingots of polysilicon. Today, the company's solar cells are imported from Asia. But 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Dalton in Cartersville, Qcells is building a $2.3 billion complex to take polysilicon refined in Washington state and make ingots, wafers and solar cells — in addition to 3.3 gigawatts of solar modules. That plant is scheduled to open in phases starting next year.Currently, no silicon ingots or wafers are made in the U.S. But Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, besides offering a extra tax credit on American-made solar equipment, lets manufacturers earn incentives for every unit of polysilicon they refine and every wafer, cell and module they make. For example, Qcells earns a tax credit of 7 cents per watt for every panel it makes in Dalton, or $34.30 for every 490-watt residential panel made.Even with that boost, solar industry leaders warn, factories will struggle to compete with a new spike in cheap Asian imports. They're again urging federal officials to investigate whether solar panels are being dumped at unfairly low prices. Previous investigations have led to anti-dumping tariffs on panels made in China and Taiwan.U.S. officials shouldn't regard the spike as a normal market fluctuation, said Mike Carr, executive director of the Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition, a group that includes Qcells. He argues Chinese component makers are pushing out cheap modules from southeast Asian factories, tanking panel prices to ensure Chinese dominance and smother U.S. manufacturing.“This is likely to be the No. 1 new energy source in the 21st century," Carr said. "It’s already cheaper than pretty much anything else to install. It is the path to meeting our climate goals. So I think it becomes a real national security kind of concern. The way OPEC is in oil markets, we don’t want to allow China to become that same controller of supply in solar.”Qcells sees current low prices as a “near-term challenge" in achieving economies of scale and serving a long-term market, Moskowitz said. Beyond trade policy, he said, requiring federal agencies to buy American-made products and promoting panels produced with fewer carbon emissions could bolster Qcells.Politics envelops the solar industry. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the plant earlier this year. At the state level, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has wrestled with Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff over political credit for electric vehicle and renewable energy investments flowing to Georgia. “Out of all the places Qcells could have gone, they chose to operate and expand here in Georgia because of our unrivaled assets and the competitive package we put together,” Kemp said in a statement.Ossoff and fellow Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock note they authored the component incentives that benefit Qcells, emphasizing federal policy. “Our state is emerging as the advanced energy capital of the nation, thanks to federal infrastructure and manufacturing policies that are benefiting Georgia more than any other state,” Ossoff said in a statement.Qcells, for its part, praises both state and federal assistance.“To build these markets up and to have them work, you need a whole government approach," Moskowitz said.。中导洞贯通后，主厂房分层扩挖及主体结构施工核心作业通道全面打通。　　该项目导流泄洪洞位于上水库大坝右岸山体内，洞身长677米，净断面宽4米、高5米，承担疏导河道水流、保障主体工程干地施工和抵御汛期洪水等任务。此次顺利进洞，标志着这一关键控制性工程进入洞身施工阶段，为后续河道截流和大坝主体填筑奠定基础。图为建设中的中国大唐重庆武隆银盘抽水蓄能电站。朱小龙摄　　中国大唐重庆武隆银盘抽水蓄能电站位于武隆区文复乡、江口镇境内，总装机容量120万千瓦，安装4台30万千瓦可逆式水轮发电机组。