SolarPower Europe and 12 CEOs from PV manufacturers wrote to the European Commission to call for urgent action to support the redevelopment European solar manufacturing in the context of critical EU solar deployment and energy security targets.
Letter of PV manufacturers to European Commission
They welcome the recent REPowerEU and EU Solar Strategy, while pointing to international measures that are accelerating the global competition for solar PV value chains outside of Europe. The US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) benefits for operating expenditure (Opex) and capital expenditures are resonating with investors.
Signatories highlight the recent IEA Special Report on supply chains, raising concern about the dominant concentration of supply chains in a single geography.
Letter Signatories:
BayWa r.e. CEO Matthias Taft
Enel Green Power CEO Salvatore Bernabei
FirstSolar CEO Mark Widmar
Fronius CEO Elisabeth Strauss-Engelbrechtsmüller
Goldbeck Solar CEO Joachim Goldbeck
IBC SOLAR CEO Udo Mohrstedt
Xabier Viteri, General Manager, Renewable Energy Business Iberdrola Group
Meyer Burger CEO Gunter Erfurt
Norwegian Crystals CEO Goran Bye
SMA Solar Technology CEO Jurgen Reinert
SolarPower Europe CEO Walburga Hemetsberger
Armin Froitzheim, Chief Technology Officer and Managing Director, Solarwatt
Wacker Chemie AG CEO Christian Hartel
CEOs want the Commission to replicate the EU Chips Act’s success for critical solar PV technology, and promote solar PV production in the National Resilience and Recovery Plans. This translates to accelerated financial support for large-scale manufacturing projects, and competitive Opex support, particularly for energy-intensive polysilicon and ingot/wafer production.