Recording of Wednesday, May 07, 2025 | The smarter E Europe 2025 | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 23:10 .

EU Solar Industry Confronts State Aid Hurdles and Investment Gaps in Ambitious Manufacturing Goals at Intersolar Conference

Dries Acke from SolarPower Europe led a session at the Intersolar conference focusing on solar manufacturing in Europe, highlighting both opportunities and challenges. The event featured presentations by Alan Tu of InfoLink Consulting and Prof. Dr. Peter Fath of RCT Solutions, followed by a panel discussion with industry leaders discussing strategies to enhance European solar manufacturing. Despite existing capacities like polysilicon production and inverter manufacturers such as SMA, Europe's ambition under the Net Zero Industry Act is to reshore 30 gigawatts of solar manufacturing by 2030—a target not yet fully realized across all sectors except possibly inverters. To bridge this gap, robust industrial policies are needed that combine financing for facilities (push) with market demand creation (pull). However, current EU state aid revisions remain complex and regionally varied. Calls have been made for dedicated European funding mechanisms within frameworks like IPCEI to improve investment conditions despite private sector involvement hurdles due to milestone-based models. On the demand side, measures encouraging resilience against dominant imports through public auctions starting in 2026 could be expanded further via procurement mandates favoring local products. While some countries advance "Made in Europe" incentives or bonuses—like Italy and Spain—others lag behind; thus collaboration over isolationism remains crucial for achieving reshoring goals amidst political complexities highlighted by reports such as Draghi's.

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Speaker

Dries Acke
Deputy CEO
SolarPower Europe
Belgium

Talk of session: Solar Manufacturing in Europe: Progress, Setbacks & Outlook

Amid rising geopolitical tensions, Europe's dependence on imported solar products continues to grow. While the European solar market is growing, domestic manufacturers across the entire value chain are struggling, losing market share, shutting down facilities, or exiting the sector due to declining profitability. So far, support from Brussels and national governments has been insufficient and too slow to create the conditions needed for a revival of European solar manufacturing. Now, hopes are pinned on the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA), which aims to boost local production through domestic content requirements in auctions and public procurement. This session will provide: Update on the European solar manufacturing landscape across the value chain Cost-competitiveness analysis of European solar manufacturers Insights into policy support, investment opportunities, and start-up potential for European PV manufacturing High-level panel discussion on the future of solar manufacturing in Europe.

Further Talks of this session:

Welcome & Introduction

Speaker

Dries Acke
Deputy CEO
SolarPower Europe
Belgium

Video is not available.

Global Supply, Demand and Price Developments Impacting Solar Manufacturing in Europe

Speaker

Alan Tu
Solar Analyst
InfoLink Consulting Co,. Ltd.
China

To Talk

Cost Comparison Wafer-To-Module Manufacturing Cost in Europe and Abroad

Speaker

Prof. Dr. Peter Fath
CEO
RCT Solutions GmbH
Germany

To Talk

Panel Discussion

Speaker

To Talk