It isn’t a first for solar farms in European countries to be tied to forced labor in China. A little over a year ago, Swedish solar panels were discovered to have ties to a Chinese company, which had participated in China’s labor program in the Xinjiang region.

Thursday afternoon, Danish media TV2 and partner Danwatch reveal similar links among numerous Danish solar developers.

Among them is European Energy. The solar developer contracted Trina Solar, which was discovered to have sourced components from companies in Xinjiang that were used in panels for European Energy’s solar farm in southern Denmark.

European Energy’s Head of Communications and Regulatory Affairs, Thomas Beck Sørensen, tells TV2 that the company will make sure to obtain guarantees that there are no materials from the Xinjiang province in deliveries from suppliers.

Another developer embroiled in the matter is Better Energy, which uses Chinese suppliers with ties to the province. Communications Director Bergmann Mølgaard notes that due to Chinese legislation, Better Energy cannot guarantee that the solar panels are produced without any connection to forced labor, he notes to TV2.

In a statement to EnergyWatch, however, Mølgaard notes that the company has worked systematically and in a structured way to shun raw materials from the Xinjiang province.

”We feel assured that there are no materials from Xinjiang in the products we purchase.”

China’s market share

The International Energy Agency recently published a new report warning against the consequences of Chinese dominance in the solar market. According to the IEA, China controls at least 80% of the global solar market and is poised to claim an even bigger market share, which could increase to 95% over a number of years.

According to human rights organizations, China has detained up to a million Uighurs, a Muslim minority group, in so-called re-education camps located in Xinjiang.

In 1949, Uighurs comprised 90% of the population in Xinjiang. Today, they are in the minority after years of immigration by Han Chinese, which make up the majority of the population in China.

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