Europe Is Expected To Add 16.7GW Pv This Year
Dec 12, 2019
SolarPower Europe's preliminary estimates for 2019 indicate that the 28 member states of the European Union are expected to add 16.7 GW of photovoltaic power to the grid this year, achieving an amazing year-on-year increase of 104%.
According to the industry ’s first EU Solar Market Outlook report, Spain has been at the forefront of capacity growth this year and is expected to increase by 4.7 GW; Germany is expected to increase by 4 GW in 2019, followed by 2.5 GW and 1.1 gigawatts of the Netherlands and France.
According to Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe: "The EU's solar energy is booming. We have entered a new era of solar growth."
Preliminary statistics from the industry organization indicate that with the efforts of EU member states to achieve the binding national renewable energy targets of 2020, the European solar industry is expected to enter the best year since 2010. As the organization points out, 26 of the EU's 28 member states will install more photovoltaic devices this year than last year. According to the organization, this is mainly due to cost competitiveness considerations, and solar energy is usually the cheapest option for new energy capacity.
Solar power generation exceeds other forms of energy
Statistics show that by the end of this year, the EU is expected to have a cumulative installed solar capacity of 131.9 GW, an annual increase of 14%. SolarPower Europe points out that new photovoltaic power generation capacity built on the African continent this year exceeds any other power generation technology.
Although Spain is leading the way in terms of new installed capacity (returning to the top of the list for the first time since 2008), SolarPower Europe particularly highlights the amazing growth in Poland. The organization expects the country's installed solar capacity to quadruple this year to 784 MW.
According to the organization's estimates, as the EU member states have started to achieve the 32% renewable energy target set by the European Commission by 2030, the photovoltaic industry will show strong growth in the next few years.
Michael Schmela, executive consultant and head of market intelligence at SolarPower Europe, described the outlook for the next few years as "an increase in solar deployment in Europe". He believes that the EU is expected to add up to 21 GW of new solar energy next year, and another 21.9 GW in 2021. "The record-breaking year is expected to be 2022," he added, "and is on track to reach an all-time high, reaching 24.3 GW of installed capacity, and an additional 26.8 GW in 2023."
SolarPower Europe plans to announce its 2019 final statistics and new five-year photovoltaic demand forecast at the trade show of Intersolar Europe in Munich in June. Earlier this year, it had predicted that the annual increase in global photovoltaic capacity in 2019 would reach 128 GW.
