'Pivotal moment' | Iberdrola and Enel join solar industry plea for EU manufacturing boost

Leading executives from Iberdrola, Enel Green Power, Meyer Burger and other leading companies urged the European Commission to take bold action to boost investment in Europe’s PV industrial base.

The 12 CEOs in a letter point to measures in competing large markets, such as the US whose Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) grants benefits for expenditures, India which provides advantages through an innovative auction design, or China.

The signatories call for additional support measures in the short term that mirror the success of the EU Chips Act and would promote solar production better in the National Resilience and Recovery Plans by individual EU member states.

"The fact is that Europe is at a pivotal moment," said the letter. "The continent can no longer continue to solely rely on imported solar panels and inverters as supply chain and shipping issues take their toll."

But the solar industry in its letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen now also has demanded an accelerated financial support for large-scale manufacturing projects, and competitive OpEx support, particularly for energy-intensive polysilicon and ingot/wafer production.

Europe’s once dominant solar manufacturing sector had collapsed in the last decade, as companies were unable to compete with a new wave of Chinese suppliers helped by cheap state finance, low labour costs, economies of scale and, at times, dumping practices.