7 pillars of the EU Solar Industry Alliance’s Strategic Action Plan

The Alliance, which was presented today by the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, and the CEO of EIT InnoEnergy, Diego Pavia, aims to redevelop and re-launch the European photovoltaic industry “in all segments of the value chain” and make it competitive “in the context of the growing demand for solar PV in Europe and worldwide”. Right now, the world’s leading solar panel manufacturers are Asian, and the European market’s dependence on these suppliers is extremely high.

The main objective that the Alliance, together with the European Commission, has set itself is “to develop an industry that supplies an annual capacity of 30,000 megawatts, generating 60 billion euros of annual GDP in Europe and creating more than 400,000 new direct and indirect jobs”. To that end, and among the “priority actions” identified by the Alliance, these three stand out: (1) mobilizing public and private financing to expand the EU’s clean energy technology manufacturing capacity (the vast majority of solar panels that are installed in Europe are of Asian origin); (2) ensuring sustainable market conditions “and stimulating demand for photovoltaic products and systems.” (3) deepening the “eco-design” of photovoltaic systems and products “and public procurement actions”; and (4) training the workforce that will be needed to realize the solar photovoltaic revolution (the European Commission plans to launch a European Solar Photovoltaic Industry Alliance Academy).

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These are the seven pillars of the EU Solar PV Industry Alliance Strategic Action Plan.

• Identify manufacturing bottlenecks and provide recommendations.

Identify bottlenecks to the rapid development and expansion of EU solar PV manufacturing capacity to reach a pre-determined target for 2025 and 2030 that matches the REPowerEU plan. This will include technology, permitting new production sites, addressing bottlenecks in the supply chain and raw material and component needs, and addressing labor and skill shortages. Collaboration with entities such as the European Raw Materials Alliance will leverage joint expertise. The Alliance will act as a channel for its members to raise problems with the European Commission and EU Member States, and to work together to find solutions.

• Facilitating access to finance, including the establishment of commercialization pathways for solar PV manufacturing.

The Alliance will identify investment opportunities and available financing options. It will also develop investment projects, with the aim of attracting private investment to support the de-risking, scale-up and market deployment of innovative and competitive PV products manufactured in Europe.

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The identification of investment opportunities to support the solar PV manufacturing value chain in the EU will focus on critical linkages to enable the commercialization of innovative solutions. It will also take into account critical needs coming from standards, metrology and eco-design, as well as from technology transfer and business scale-up dimensions.

•  Create a framework for joint development and implementation actions.

The Alliance will facilitate exchanges between EU manufacturers and large public and private buyers, notably by sharing best practices in renewable electricity procurement through innovative mechanisms, to respond to aggregate public demand for solar energy and feed into technical specifications for the purchase of new solar technologies.

•  Generate international agreements to build resilience in the global value chain.

To achieve the goal of ensuring supply diversification, the Alliance will organize discussions to explore the potential for alternative international suppliers, partners and buyers through existing and future partnerships, dialogues and business forums.

•  Supporting the solar PV research and innovation base

The Alliance will consider the most innovative results from the European innovation ecosystem to identify new innovation-driven industrialization opportunities.

This will include past and future results from EU-based start-ups, EU research and innovation framework programs, as well as research and innovation activities from other EU programs.

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•  Circularity and sustainability

The Alliance will focus on circularity and sustainability, including reducing carbon footprint, pollution and biodiversity loss. It will facilitate and increase communication along the value chain to encourage reuse and recycling/recovery, consider material substitution solutions, carbon and environmental footprint reduction options, material recovery potential, and monitoring and anticipation of potential bottlenecks, including in relation to access to raw materials.

•  Competencies

The Alliance will study the competences needed for solar PV adoption and manufacturing and propose solutions such as training programs and cooperate with the EU Large Scale Competence Partnership for onshore renewables. The possibility of creating a solar skills academy inspired by similar initiatives of other industry alliances will be explored.

EIT InnoEnergy, the innovation engine for sustainable energy in Europe, supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), an EU agency, has been appointed by the European Commission to serve as the secretariat of the European Solar Photovoltaic Industry Alliance. EIT InnoEnergy will be joined by SolarPower Europe and the European Solar Manufacturing Council on the steering committee of this alliance.

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Credentials

EIT InnoEnergy operates at the heart of the energy transition and is the leading innovation driver in sustainable energy, bringing the technology and skills needed to accelerate Europe’s green pact and decarbonization goals.

Recognized globally as the most active sustainable energy investor and one of the largest investors in climate technology and renewable energy in 2020, EIT InnoEnergy is behind investments in multiple energy areas. Some of them are energy storage, transportation and mobility, renewable energy and sustainable buildings and cities, always accompanied by an ecosystem of more than 1200 partners and 29 shareholders. The 180 portfolio companies are on track to generate revenues of 72.8 billion and save 1.1G tons of CO2e annually by 2030.

EIT InnoEnergy, the innovation engine for sustainable energy in Europe, with the support of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), an EU body, has been appointed by the European Commission as the secretariat of the European Photovoltaic Solar Industry Alliance. EIT InnoEnergy will be joined by SolarPower Europe and the European Solar Manufacturing Council on the steering committee of this alliance.

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EIT InnoEnergy is the driving force behind three European strategic initiatives including the European Battery Alliance (EBA), the European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Centre (EGHAC) and the European Solar Initiative (ESI). Founded in 2010 and supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), EIT InnoEnergy has offices throughout Europe and in Boston, USA.

Source: https://www.energias-renovables.com/fotovoltaica/estos-son-los-7-pilares-del-plan-20221209