Twenty-three EU member states and a commitment to strengthen the production of ‘Made in Europe’ solar panels
It is on the sidelines of the Energy Council of 15 April that the European Commission promoted the signing of a “European Solar Energy Charter”, signed by all Member States (with the exception of Sweden, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus) and the green energy industry.
A non-binding document which was created as a response to the EU’s growing concern over the fact that the majority of solar module imports into Europe are covered by a single supplier, China. A concentration that “creates short-term risks for the resilience of the value chain and long-term risks for the stability of solar panel prices due to dependence on non-European suppliers”, underline the signatories. After the launch in December 2022 of the European Solar Photovoltaic Industry Alliance – with which the EU has set itself the objective of 30 GW of production capacity along the value chain by 2030 – now the 23 governments and representatives of industry insist that “other urgent short-term measures are needed to address the crisis in Europe’s manufacturing industry”.
Member States and industry representatives commit to promoting the “resilience of the supply of high-quality, sustainable solar PV products in Europe”, in particular through renewable public solar energy auctions or markets. The EU Commission for its part assures that it wants to facilitate member states’ access to European funds, in particular for the financing of photovoltaic solar panel production projects, collaborate with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and also explore the possibility of give life to an “Important Project of Common European Interest” (IPCEI) to support innovations in the sector. According to data from Brussels, the EU has so far installed 56 GW of solar capacity, the fastest growing source of electricity, already responsible for 8% of the electricity generated in EU member states.
