BIG SUN FROM SOUTHERN EUROPE

Study: Southern Europe Photovoltaic Markets to Help Global Industry Back to Growth
10 December 2009 (Emerging Energy Research)

"With the Spanish market limited by regulatory hurdles, Italy and France are moving the European photovoltaic (PV) industry forward…[S]outhern Europe’s long-term growth prospects, with 38 GW of new projects expected by 2020 are expected to help pull the global PV industry out of its current slump [according to a new study by Emerging Energy Research (EER)]…

"Southern Europe is expected to account for approximately 25% of 2009 additions in Europe behind Germany, the leading European PV market at 67%…PV development is scaling across southern Europe, with 47 GW of capacity forecasted through 2020, significant growth from the 9 GW installed to date. Central to the surge is increased regulatory clarity regarding feed-in tariffs (FITs), long-term national targets dedicated to PV, and volatile electricity prices…"

From Emerging Energy Research (click to enlarge)

"Newfound interest in PV by established European utilities and independent power producers is lending greater credibility…State-owned EDF and Enel have already begun to impact the markets…EER projects Italy to be the strongest of the southern European markets in the near term [due to a robust FIT]…[C]lear regulatory initiatives in France are rapidly aligning to turn France into one of the more stable markets in Europe…[With only] 128 MW of installed capacity as of June 2009, [France]… may surpass 800 MW per year by 2012, driven by a stable and transparent incentive system."

From Emerging Energy Research (click to enlarge)

"Spain, the largest PV market globally in 2008 with 2.8 GW installed, will fall back to a more pedestrian 125 MW in 2009. Less than a year ago, Spain was the fastest-growing solar PV market in the world, accounting for more than 40% of the world’s total PV installations in 2008. However, the government’s revisions to the PV FIT regime in September 2008, coupled with the global financial crisis, radically reined in the booming Spanish PV market. Still, opportunities exist…and longer-term policy changes are expected to get growth back on track…

"Greece, still struggling to get past its permitting constraints, is on the cusp of joining the other growing southern European countries, but at a smaller scale. While the PV sector and its disparate technology solutions are in their infancy, legislators are exploring a number of strategies to encourage the sector’s growth without repeating the mistakes of Spain. The long-stagnating Greek PV market is set to scale rapidly in 2010, pending the government’s ability to sort through 3.7 GW of permits currently in the queue…"