Key to the development of large scale PV projects in Europe

For large ground-mounted PV projects in Europe, the key to growth and success in the coming years will be integration and consistency between design, procurement and construction (EPC) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks, as legislators and power companies lag behind the rapid development of the industry.

With this in mind, the industry has a responsibility to secure its future and to continue to develop major large-scale projects wherever possible.

Justin Thesiger, operations and asset management director at Low Carbon, said that the company's stated goal is to reach 20GW of installed PV capacity by 2030.

"We decided to try and standardise as much as possible. Obviously, every project has its own peculiarities, but if you standardise as much as possible, then your EPC contractor can actually do less. In order to secure equipment, cables and everything else we needed, we decided to establish long-term strategic partnerships with key suppliers."

Stable long-term supply partnerships can make project deployment and development quicker and easier, and also help to create a more stable and secure supply chain.

Developers with multiple projects can benefit from this stability and relationship building, rather than running projects one by one as was the case earlier in the industry, Thesiger said.

Relationships such as this have made headlines, such as the one between US developer Silicon Ranch and module manufacturer First Solar, with the two companies signing a multi-year, long-term supply agreement for 4.7GW.

The theme extends to ESG issues too, with Ross Grier, UK managing director of NextEnergy Capital, saying, "Especially as we face increased pressure from published ESG requirements, it's this close relationship that can really distil value, gain clarity and transparency of the underlying component supply and underlying value chain."

PV Tech Premium published a feature in December discussing the central role ESG now plays for solar project investors, a topic often discussed at European solar investment and financing conferences.

Grier said, "Everyone understands, especially in something like the solar supply chain, that ESG improvement is a process and that the whole industry is putting pressure on manufacturers in the supply chain in order to improve their own processes and systems, and we are working together to solve this problem."