BRUSSELS, Belgium (Friday 9th December 2022): After years of concern, the European solar sector is encouraged by historic EU political attention and investment opportunities being directed toward building solar panels and components.
A new European Solar PV Industry Alliance will promote investment in large-scale factories, aiming for 30 GW of manufacturing of each key solar component, annually, by 2025 – more than six times the current average capacity of around 4.5 GW.
30 GW is around 75% of the solar panels needed for one year of new solar projects in Europe, at the current rate of installations.
The targeted number of solar panels can power 9 million homes – more than all the homes in the Netherlands. 30 GW would also create over 100,000 jobs in manufacturing alone, while supporting up to 1 million jobs in installing and maintaining solar panels.
Dries Acke, Policy Director at SolarPower Europe, commented;
“The EU Solar PV Industry Alliance is a critical recognition of the importance of building solar panels in Europe. It’s the coming-of-age of the European manufacturing story. The Alliance means funding can get to the right projects, but we’ll be cut off at the knees if we don’t have a dedicated solar fund for the Alliance to use.”
The new European Solar PV Industry Alliance comes at a critical time. In confronting energy and climate crises, global competition to build solar panels is rapidly heating up, as seen by the US Inflation Reduction Act. To ensure Europe’s place in the global solar journey, and the success of the new Alliance, industry needs dedicated funding to build and run factories.
The International Energy Agency has just revealed that global solar PV capacity is set to triple by 2022 and overtake coal to become the largest source of power capacity globally. In the face of the energy and climate crises, demand for solar panels and solar components has never been greater. The European Solar PV Industry Alliance must evolve in this reality and drive a dedicated solar manufacturing fund.
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Bethany Meban
Senior Press and Communications Advisor
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