EIT InnoEnergy and SolarPower Europe launch the European Solar Initiative
The European Solar Initiative, launched by EIT InnoEnergy and SolarPower Europe, will accelerate Europe’s climate agenda and contribute to the delivery of the European Green Deal.
The European Solar Initiative (ESI), supported by the European Commission, aims to re-develop the photovoltaics (PV) industry value chain in Europe and capture the booming European demand for solar PV, estimated at 20GW per year for the next decade, creating an additional EUR 40 billion GDP annually and 400 000 direct and indirect jobs. The ESI will accelerate Europe’s climate agenda and economic recovery, contributing to the delivery of the European Green Deal objectives.
As the lowest-cost and most job-intensive renewable technology, solar is poised to deliver the goals of the European Green Deal and Green Recovery. The momentum is building to scale up manufacturing activities in the EU, based on the strong domestic market uptake confirmed in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the sustained technological leadership of European companies. Following the successful launch of the Solar Manufacturing Accelerator in May 2020, today we are delighted to further boost the solar industry, with EIT InnoEnergy, by launching the European Solar Initiative.
Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe
Enabling strategic value chains which accelerate the energy transition is at the core of EIT InnoEnergy’s mission. This ESI for the PV industry would be our third, after batteries (EBA) and hydrogen (EGHAC). The mix of National Energy and Climate plan demand, low cost of capital, notable successes in European technology development, and a return of investment into the sector has created fertile ground for a rebirth of European PV. Europe has learnt from its previous experiences and with the Green Deal’s powerful, unambiguous political and business framework in place, scale and speed are going to be the key to unlocking PV’s potential.
Diego Pavia, CEO of EIT InnoEnergy
The European Solar Initiative combines the thriving ecosystem of PV players created over the years by SolarPower Europe and the successful blueprint of the European Battery Alliance (EBA), led by EIT InnoEnergy, with its Business Investment Platform (BIP). Designed to bridge the gap between business cases, investors, off-takers, delivery resources, the BIP shortens time to investment, de-risks, accelerates, and boosts the robustness of the investment cases in all required dimensions (technology, team, supply chain, environmental sustainability, off-takers).
The future of the European energy system is renewable and solar energy has an important role to play in that. To quickly scale up green energy, we need the insights and cooperation of the industry. I am therefore very happy to see the launch of the European Solar Initiative, which I’m confident will give a boost to the entire solar PV value chain in Europe.
Kadri Simson, Commissioner for Energy
A successful industrial transformation requires partnerships between the relevant stakeholders. Therefore, I welcome and support the European Solar Initiative, and I hope it will soon enjoy the investors’ attention because there is a real business case behind it. I also see an increased interest from Member States in strengthening the solar PV production in Europe, initiatives like the European Solar Initiative are very welcome to strengthen the resilience of our industrial ecosystems, avoid critical dependencies, and of course create quality jobs.
Thierry Breton, Commissioner for the Internal Market
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