All previous articles of our international news service in chronological order are to find below
(Texts are free for publishing by naming EuPD Europressedienst. Specimen copy requested.):
Restrained Market Expectations at „Solarexpo“ in Verona
25.04.2007
Huge interest on visitor’s side – marginal sales. Feed-in tariffs rated to be too low.
Verona / Bonn . The 8th “Solarexpo” with its integrated exhibition on energy efficiency and sustainable architecture “Greenbuilding”, denoted a new record number with 39,000 visitors and 570 exhibitors. Because of the unexpected large number of exhibitors the organizer had to rehire an additional hall on the fair ground, even the fair had moved from Piacenza to Verona . The largest amount of exhibitors came from Italy , followed by German companies. Besides solar firms, several exhibitors within the German companies were from the sanitary, heating and climate sector – such as Buderus, Junker and Vaillant. Fabio Boselli, Service Director Italy at Vaillant underlined that photovoltaic becomes more and more important for the Italian energy market, and because of this increasing demand his company entered the Italian PV business. In the meantime most German PV companies established on-site settlements. Many market participants act on the assumption that the new feed-in law “Conto Energia” marks a significant growth spurt. Some firms even count on a growth potential of up to 100 MW in 2007 and an annual growth of about 200 MW in the following years. But even if the largest obstacles for the growing market are smoothed out by the “Conto Energia” – especially with removal of the legal uncertainties concerning the electricity and gas agency (AEEG) – most market participants appear to remain cautious. The high expectations of many companies concerning the market development could not be fulfilled yet. “The new ‘Conto Energia’ is an improvement compared to the present law, but it still can be improved”, says Hartmut Kuehn, Manager International Relations of the IBC Solar AG. Nonetheless, the company counts on a positive market development and intents to launch an affiliate in Italy in the year 2008. Many firms declared that they are planning to extend their capacities within the Italian market. However, all in all the visitors seemed to be positive but restrained. The demand was pretty high, whereas the sales were too little, subsumed Andrea Galimberti Regional Sales Manager at Suntechnics.
Even the bureaucracy was simplified; the new tariffs of the feed-in regulation were criticized by many visitors to be too low. However, according to EuPD Europressedienst, Gert Gremes, Chairman of the Italian Photovoltaic Association Gifi, acted confidently. The tariffs seem to be adequate and shall pay off for the small plants in the North as well as for the large plants in the South. Problems could be caused by the network operators, who – according to Gremes – plan to appeal against the amount of surcharges in case the power connections do not take place in time. According to the new regulations for the electricity and gas agency (AEEG) they are compelled to pay penalties for delays appearing in regard to grid connection of PV systems.
Megawatt meets Kilowatt: 2nd PV Med builds bridges
25.04.2007
High potential of Mediterranean countries regarding solar energy. Exchange of experiences and technologies necessary.
Athens/Bonn. 482 participants from 30 countries joined the “2nd PV Med Conference: Shining Light on the Mediterranean” that took place between April 19th and 20th in Athens . Under auspices of the Greek Ministry for Development, the conference was organized by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE) and WIP Renewable Energies. That the event took place in Greece this year was not by accident: Greece is seen as a promising new solar market, not least because of the implementation of a feed-in tariff in June last year. Winfried Hoffmann, president of EPIA told EuPD Europressedienst: “ Greece is able to make a big step towards solar electricity.” The PV Med conference builds bridges between the PV markets around the Mediterranean . On the one side are standing European nations such as Spain, France, Italy and Greece, who already use photovoltaics to generate energy and who dispose of great know-how. On the other side are the auspicious abutter states – Morocco , Algeria , Jordan , Tunisia , Egypt and Turkey –, where energy markets are currently restructured. Thereby, photovoltaics is not only seen as a promising electricity generation method, but also as basis for a dynamic economic growth. Besides the possibility of sharing experiences, the event aims at providing recommended actions for these auspicious PV markets.
The solution is there. The approach has still to be worked upon “Mediterranean regions are the right place for PV, as it disposes the best solar radiation in the world“, said Sebastiano Serra, Representative of the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea. The biggest challenge lies, according to Serra, in the usage of the right instruments. This can, for instance, be seen in the fact that sustainable promotion policies give companies the reliability needed for planning. For Serra, the best way lies in a regional cooperation of countries. Saïd Mouline, President of the Moroccan Solar and Wind Energy Association, pointed out that the so called “large-scale systems” would have the highest potential for the Southern Mediterranean countries. The Moroccan Environment Ministry numbers the annual sunshine hours for the country to 3,000. For a sustainable establishment of solar energy, politicians have to be convinced, Mouline added. At the same time, the economic development potentials, for example the positive effects regarding employment, should be shown. “We have the solution. We just have to find the approach.” The acceptance of a promotion between 30 to 40 Eurocents/kWh on the national level would be difficult, but none the less necessary for solar energy, Mouline said. Furthermore, an exchange of technologies and experiences among the countries would be important. Livinio Styuch from Spanish Isofotón added that, beside the political assistance, also an initiative of the private economy would be demanded. Commencements could be seen in Morocco . Altogether, according to Moroccan ministerial data, a capacity of 6,342 MWp in 2009 is to be achieved – formerly through wind and solar energy.
The next PV Med is expected to take place in 2009. France, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan are discussed as new venues.
Solar Plants: Most Common Sources of Defect Are Damages on Inverter Modules
12.04.2007
Increasing competition on the solar market has a strong influence on quality awareness of installers
Bonn. It appears that in the course of time between 2003 and 2006 the quality of photovoltaic plants has regained importance within the last year, following the years of decreasing importance since 2003. “It can be explained by the market development that the excess demand in 2004 and 2005 is followed by a significant increase of competition, quality again is in great demand”, explained Markus Hoehner, managing director of the market researcher EuPD Research in Bonn, concerning the devolution of the present study results.
But referring to the installation firms, the problems have advanced with the growth of solar capacity. On top of the list of malfunction sources, respondents saw hardware damages on inverter modules. In the year 2005 this was named to be a problem by 19.4 percent of the installers, in the year 2006 even by 30.6 percent. The number two source of defect within the last year were damages due to an “Act of God”, which were mainly caused by the snow weights of the record winter 2005/2006, which led to the breaking of numerous solar modules. Other damages named were defect modules and the reduction of capacities caused by soiling of the modules.
Referring to the wholesalers and installation firms polled by EuPD Research, the most important product feature of a PV plant was the “quality of manufacture” (about 83 percent), whereas the customers clearly favor “capacity/effectiveness”. As the following feature in the hierarchy of importance the installing enterprises named terms of warranty and cost-performance ratio. From the installers point of view the consumer’s awareness of quality increased over the years. For 2004/2005 they assumed that quality was “very important” for about 57 percent of the customers, whereas the percentage for the year 2006 was estimated to be around 68.6 percent. One possible explanation for the increased awareness of the clients could be the product recall of defective modules by BP Solar last midyear. However, a comparison of the three groups of respondents shows that on the one hand the importance of quality decreases from the wholesaler to the installer up to the end customer, but on the other hand it remains on a very high standard. This, referring to Hoehner, suggests the conclusion that increased quality awareness only diffuses to the customer over time.
It is striking that in 2007 67.2 percent of the installation firms called the terms of warranty to be “very important”, whereas only 48 percent of the wholesalers said so. A glance at the studies results shows why – the installers are the ones who are liable for defects in the first place. Just less than 77 percent of them handle the guarantees themselves, whereas only 36 percent of the wholesalers do so. Further more, the results concerning the pre-and after-sales supply reveal that about 85 percent of the installation firms offer service and undertake repairing themselves. Among the wholesalers, 26.2 percent do so. Services provided by call-centers or technical support however are permanent components in the delivery portfolio of 50 percent of the wholesalers. By now producers, primarily cell and module producers, are concentrating exclusively on acquisition and production problems.
Basis of the comparative data analysis form the studies on the German photovoltaic market. While in 2003 about 1.800 installers were interviewed, 1.300 installers and wholesaler respectively 1.528 installation firms and 145 wholesalers were questioned in 2004/2005 and in 2006/2007.
Experts foresee enlargement of silicon capacities
12.04.2007
New companies push market development. Manufacturer prices for solar energy are expected to decline.
Munich. On April 3rd, the world’s most important solar silicon conference took place in Munich within the event of the “Photovoltaic Technology Show 2007” that ended on April 5th. Discussions of the silicon conference revolve around – as expected – the development of production capacities. About 925 persons joined the conference, approximately 200 more than in 2006. During the solar boom of the past years, a struggle for the existing silicon capacities has begun, as the extraction of silicon is not only very complicated but cost-intensive. Philippe Welter, editor of the solar magazine Photon believes that available capacities will increase because of new players on the market: “If one third of the players announcing silicon capacities become active, there will be enough silicon”, he said to Europressedienst. This prognosis is confirmed, said Welter, by the increasing production of wafer- and cell producers. The lack of silicon has led to heavy engagements in the research and development of alternative and cheaper production- and cleaning mechanisms. But companies kept exact information, regarding cost-effectiveness and silicon quality of the new metallurgic production, confidential.
According to prospective silicon capacities, Peter Woditsch, Chief Executive of Deutsche Solar AG, said critically: “There will be enough silicon. The question is who will have access.” Therewith, he referred to the current market structure, in which silicon capacities are exhausted by big companies by means of long-term contracts with producers. Contracting is, up until now, the almost the only possibility for firms to secure silicon. For Michael Rogol of Boston Photon Consulting, an “aggressive growth on side of the silicon producers” can be observed. But he also resumed the trend of the foregoing months that producers as Solarworld AG and Isofoton would more and more appreciate integrated approaches and build their own silicon factories. According to Welter, prices for long-term contracts range between 40 and 50 US Dollars per kilogram. One kilogram silicon at the spot market is currently traded at around 100 US Dollars. Securing silicon supply on the one hand, contracted companies might also have to assume price disadvantages. Against the background of a growth of capacities, contract prices might be higher as compared to free trade prices.
Stronger demand expected
The results of the study “The true cost of solar power” that the director of the study, Michael Rogol of the Boston Photon Consulting presented on April 4th, foresaw an enormous development of capacities of the German, the Californian and the Spanish market. Thereafter, production costs in the south of Germany could decline from currently 0.24 Euros to approx. 0.15 Euros in 2010. In Spain, these costs could fall down to eight or ten Eurocents, in California to eleven Eurocents. With it, company sales margins could tremendously rise. For Q-Cells, Rogol stated it could rise to more than 50 percent in 2010 compared to 24 percent in 2006. But he expects the lower costs not to be forwarded to clients, since the demand would still be much higher than the supply: “We expect cost to come down, but not the price”, he said. Nevertheless he does not foresee any danger that politics could deprive the promotion of solar energy in case of the German Renewable Energy Act (EEG). On the one hand, energy efficiency as well as the promotion of industry and employment would be in the foreground of their interest. On the other hand, taxes from the big solar companies had accumulated to about 700 million US Dollars in the past year.
The demand situation would be driven forward from the markets in Germany, the USA and Japan, Rogol told Europressedienst. In 2010, this would lead to 2.9 gigawatts (GW) of solar power in Germany, to 3.9 GW in the USA and Canada – whereas 2.3 GW would attribute to California – and 0.6 GW in Japan. More than 3,000 visitors were expected at the show. Beside the silicon conference, the product equipment conference took place on April 4th. On April 5th, the PV investors conference was held.
Sales and Export Quotas of Renewable Energies in Germany Show Double-Digit Growth
21.03.2007
Participants demand rapid review of the Renewable Energy Sources Act
Berlin. Sales in the renewable energy sector are going to grow by 17 percent onto 32 billion Euros, according to estimations of the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE). Included are domestic investments with 11.7 billion Euros, company sales with twelve billion Euros and international sales with 8.2 billion Euros. Concluding the annual press conference of Renewable Energies ee07 in Berlin, market participants made clear that future growth rates could only be established if a stable promotion was achieved. To avoid market loss, an efficient review of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) is demanded.
About 300 experts from politics, economy and science discussed the growth of the renewable energy sector at the 3rd conference of renewable energies in Berlin. “Almost every second wind power plant stems from Germany”, commented Peter Ahmels, president of the German WindEnergy Association (BWE) and vice president of the BEE, the increase of the branch. According to Ahmels, solely in the sector wind energy, 80 percent of the sales are made abroad.
Unto 2010, the branch shall grow double-digit to total revenues of 45.3 billion Euros. Thereby, national investments shall increase by 14.5 percent up to 13.5 billion Euros, while company sales are expected to rise by 34 percent onto 16.1 billion Euros and international sales by 85 percent onto 15.7 billion Euros. In this context, 45,000 new jobs are going to accrue.
According to Claudia Kemfert, directress of the Energy, Transport and Environment department of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), the German economy also benefits from “renewables”. Kemfert foresees that prices for oil and gas will increase within next years, whereby energy costs in Germany would continuously grow and renewable energies would gain competitiveness more quickly. But for her it also has to be borne in mind, that electricity prices could raise for five percent because of the EEG. Simultaneously, through the extension of renewable energies, stock prices and prices for CO2 would decline. Therewith, an easing of twelve billion Euros is expected that otherwise had to be beared by private households and energy-intensive industries.
That the “renewable” market reacts sensible to a change of promotion conditions, showed Andreas Düser, marketing director NRW of Enercon GmbH referring to the example of biodiesel: “The first generation of biomass fuel is competitive today. But through the taxation, established in 2006, sales potentials have heavily declined.“ On January 29th of 2006, the Lower House of the German Parliament adopted a successive taxation of biodiesel and vegetable oil after heavy arguments in the coalition. For both, the full mineral oil taxation shall be applied from 2012 onwards. All participants supported a rapid review of the EEG, which is on the agenda this year. Participants stated, that market uncertainty must not occur during the revision and linking of the EEG to the planned environment code.
Capping of Swiss Photovoltaic Promotion Assumed to Result in Slow Market Growth
20.03.2007
New law shall be passed at the end of the week. About 300 million Francs are set up for the new solar promotion. Its capping is criticized.
In this week, a cost-effective feed-in tariff for all renewable energies in Switzerland is going to be approved within a reform of the Swiss Energy Law. This is the first time that a cost-effective refunding for the feed-in of all renewable energies is introduced in the country. The new law is replacing the regulation, that surplus and decentralized produced electricity from renewable energies is remunerated with 15 Centimes. The planned refunding relates to water power plants up to ten megawatts, but also photovoltaics, bioenergy, geothermal and wind energy. The feed-in tariff is not expected to be fixed but will relate to the construction costs of reference plants. Market participants assume that the height of the refund will be comparable with the German one.
Newly installed capacity of 25 megawatt possible
The support of photovoltaics is to be capped in two ways.
First: The total costs of the obligation to pay remuneration for renewable energies are not allowed to count more than 0.6 centimes per kilowatt-hour of the total Swiss electricity consumption. Regarding this, the financial support for “renewables” in Switzerland is going to total to 300 million Francs.
Second: The amount of the photovoltaic support shall be, depending on the market price, between five and 20 percent of the total support. If the generation costs are 50 Centimes up the market price, the cap will be five percent of the total support. This amounts to 15 million Francs. The cap is going to be set to ten or 20 percent, if the generation costs sink to 40 to 50, respectively to below 40 Centimes. Thus, the cheaper solar electricity is, the bigger the support. The cost-effective refund shall be fixed in consideration of the amortisation time of a reference plant. Experts assume contracts of about 20 years.
In 2006, the Council of States for Environment, Space Planning and Energy (ständerätliche Umwelt-, Raumplanungs- und Energiekommission, UREK) wanted to exclude photovoltaics from a cost-effective feed-in tariff and was therefore heavily discussed. The opinions regarding the current draft legislation are divided. The Swiss Association for Sun Energy, Swissolar, on the one hand criticizes the promotion to be too low, and therefore, not all solar energy producers can benefit. On the other hand, it celebrates the new law as a “milestone for solar energy in Switzerland”. Eric Nussbaumer, manager of the Swiss ADEV Solarstrom AG, states: “Currently, there are 20 to 25 megawatts. With the first step (five percent) a doubling of the capacities could be achieved. This is a rather measly solution for the richest country in the world. Besides, an additional legalization for an uncapped refund for geothermal, seems unrealistic.”
Switzerland faces an energy gap
The specific regulations of the law is going to be developed in the forthcoming months. The Swiss government plans the first meeting with representatives of the branch at the end of April. On January 1st in 2008, the regulations shall come into force. Besides climate protection goals, the Swiss engagement for renewable energies derives from the political situation regarding energy. In 2005 Switzerland for the first time consumed more energy than it produced. In 2020, the first nuclear power plants are to be taken off the grid referring to their lifetime. At the same time, long-time electricity contracts with France will expire.
Up to now, the Swiss government plans its future foremost with nuclear energy and water power. 58 percent of the electricity production in 2005 came from “renewables”, while 97 percent stemmed from water power plants. With about 1.7 percent, solar energy only had a marginal share.
Carbon Market Insight: „Climate Protection Goals Can Be Achieved“
16.03.2007
Climate goals shall be achieved with the help of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Regarding CO2 emissions reductions, Al Gore focuses on Cap-and-Trade. Vague prognoses for the “Post-Kyoto-Era” after 2012. Auctioning becomes a trend concerning the allocation of CO2 certificates.
Copenhagen / Bonn. In Copenhagen, Denmark, the conference “Carbon Market Insight 2007” took place between March 13th and 15th. The conference in Denmark is regarded as one of the largest meetings of the branch concerning CO2 emissions and emission markets. Once more, the attendance – 1,600 participants from more than 70 nations – exceeded the expectations of the host Point Carbon by far. Among other issues, strategies and action plans, concerning the implementation of the EU emission goals, were discussed. In this context the EU Commission named three main pillars as important: The augmentation of energy efficiency, the extension of renewable energies and the development of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) – new systems to separate and store CO2. From the latter, actors expect a tremendous contribution to climate protection. Also tendencies concerning the controversial allocation of CO2-certificates were discussed about. Here, the auctioning of certificates becomes more and more important.
Al Gore – the most prominent guest speaker at the conference – talked about means to reach climate protection goals in an opening speech, from which he excluded media. From his point of view, three factors are essential for a long-term climate policy, as a participant quoted Gore towards Europressedienst. Besides tax tools, he banks on the principle of cap-and-trade which determines upper limits for CO2 emission for all industrial branches. Furthermore, Gore emphasizes that concerning climate policy, only an uninterrupted non-linear policy will payoff. The example of the leading state California shows that there is still a long way to go, confirms Joe Nation, California State Assembly. ”We did about five percent of the work in California but 95 percent are still ahead of us”, Nation says in Copenhagen.
Relating to Europe, the survey “Carbon 2007” of the organizer Point Carbon was discussed. It includes interviews with nearly 2.250 companies, unions and non-governmental-organizations regarding their prognoses on the CO2-development. Following the results, 71 percent of the interviewees are strongly counting on a Post-Kyoto-Protocol in 2012. 60 percent assume that the even the US and Australia will sign such a treaty. Significantly fewer survey participants assume a binding participation of China (37 percent) and India (30 percent). So far for the prognoses. However, whereas the EU focuses further on binding agreements concerning the reduction of greenhouse gases, the U.S. once more made only vague concessions. Nonetheless, the U.S. is expected to probably sign up to a global emission treaty that will replace the Kyoto Protocol after 2012, Gore told a journalist.
Germany is well prepared
On the contrary, national road-maps by which the emission goals given by the EU shall be achieved were not heavily discussed. On inquiry of Europressedienst, Tobias Dünow, press-officer at the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMU), underlines that strategies for the implementation of Brussels’ targets are at hand. “This subject does not catch us unprepared”, Dünow says. The BMU now focuses even stronger on energy-efficiency – for instance by refurbishment and combined heat power – and the extension of renewable energies. “ Thereby, we already have done a good job with the Renewable Energy Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, EEG)”, the press-officer says.
Revision of Renewable Energy Act Brought Forward
09.03.2007
Admission to New Ecological Code Law. Determination of CO2’-Goals in the EU Would Mean a Quadruplication of the Quotas For Renewable Energies in Germany.
Bad Staffelstein. Already in April, Berlin will deal with the revision of the Renewable Energy Act (Er-neuerbare-Energien-Gesetz (EEG)). The arranged timetable will be advanced by at least some months thereby. This statement was made by Karin Freier, Head of Division for renewable energies in the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), on the occasion of the 22nd Symposium for Photovoltaic Solar Energy taking place in Bad Staffelstein between March 7th and 9th. Cause of this verification is the restructuring of the environmental law to an environmental code (Umweltgesetzbuch UGB), by which the strongly fragmented task assignment between the Federation and the Federal States shall be restructured: “Since the first draft of the UGB has to be available by autumn, the changes caused by the revision of the EEG should be included immediately”. Once more, Freier stressed that the coalition is eager to stick to the promotions fixed by the EEG at the event.
If, today in Brussels, the member states of the European Union (EU) agree on the 20 percent rate for renewable energies concerning the total energy consumption, this would mean a quadruplication of the rates achieved by now for Germany. The recent quota of renewable energies concerning the primary energy consumption averages today by not more than 6.4 percent in the EU. In Germany, “renewables” achieved 5.3 percent of the primary energy sector in 2006, which already lies 1.1 percentage points above the goals for 2010. Within the electricity sector, “renewables” currently have a share of 11.8 percent compared to the intended 12.5 precent for 2010. “If the 20 percent rate for “renewables” in the EU will be decided, this would mean an extension of the goals intended by now even for Germany”, Freier explained. Concerning recent calculations of the BMU, even Germany itself may reach a rate around 16 percent by 2020.
Background Federal Environmental Code
After the adoption of the reform of federalism, Sigmar Gabriel, Federal Minister of the Environment, will continue uninterruptedly within the reorganization of the environmental law into an environmental code, on which the coalition parties have agreed yet. Following Gabriel, the goal is to subsume the environmental code into a consistent body of laws, and – while ensuring an ambitious ecology – to make it less difficult. Thereby, bureaucracy is supposed to decline and investment assistance shall be improved. From an expert point of view, the German environmental code – grown over the past years – is much too complicated and too little transparent. The code is strongly fragmented between the departments as well as between the Federation and the States; which is no longer up to the standard of a modern, integrated environmental policy. Simplifications are planed especially in the approbation law (Genemigungsrecht). Up to now several permissions are needed for the approval of a plant, only one overall “integrated project permission” (“integrierte Vorhabengenehmigung”) shall be needed in the future.
Twice as Much Exhibitors at Spain’s Genera
08.03.2007
Market Participants See High Potential. Majority of Visitors from the Solar Sector. Share of Foreign Visitors Increased.
Madrid. At this year’s Genera “Energy and Environment International Fair“, taking place for the tenth time between February 28th and March 2nd in Madrid, more than 12,000 visitors caught up on the several energy sources and linked industrial branches. 81 percent more than 2005. 65 percent of the exhibitors participated for the first time. The Genera still attracts a lot of Spanish exhibitors, indeed, but with 35 percent (97 exhibitors) the share of foreign exhibitors increased as well.
One of the news at the fair were, amongst others, new remote surveillance systems for photovoltaic (PV) plants such as the system "Sunreader" of Conergy. It records automatically plant breakdowns influencing the capacity and reports them via sms, e-mail or fax. Furthermore, modules of the latest generation, for example with an automatic lamination (Gruposolar GS60156M) were presented. The German SolarWorld AG presented its mounting system “Sunfix" at the Genera being composed of aluminium and adapting itself perfectly to the respective surface.
The enormous attendance shows that the Spanish market becomes more and more important and markets participants recognize its high potential. However, there are some critical observers of the Spanish boom. Thus, a market participant feared that the boom will slow down again after the two coming years holding responsible the cap of 317 MW-Peak (MWp). German companies reported that the expectations of Spanish market participants would be partly effusive. Thus, a lot of Spanish companies reported new installations of up to ten MW per year. However, a total of only 40 to 50 MWp was installed in Spain during the last year.
Andreas Fürst, director of Eurosol GmbH, pointed out that besides bureaucratic obstacles the net operators were still a big problem for the market. Thus, projects partly were put on hold for up to two years because there was still no grid connection available.
With 66.7 percent the solar sector represented the biggest share in the exhibitors. 20 percent of the participants could be assigned to the cogeneration sector. The rest of the participants operated in sectors like wind power, biomass, hydraulic energy and further renewable energy sources. For interviewed visitors, the construction of open-space and roof-top plants for industrial buildings represented the solar future above all. But hope is placed on the new solar energy promotion decree being adopted within the next weeks. The current bill plans a new remuneration category promoting plants of a size of 100 Kilowatts (kW) until 10 Megawatt (MW) with 41.7 Cent.
Italian Market an Issue at the Trade Fair “erneuerbare energien und Passiv-Haus” in Böblingen
06.03.2007
Current Study shows Potential and Problems within the Italian Market
Bonn / Böblingen. The chances and risks of German enterprises within the Italian photovoltaic market were a determinant issue at the trade fair “erneuerbare energien 2007 und Passive-Haus 2007” (“renewable energies 2007 and passive house 2007”), which took place in Böblingen between March, 2nd and March, 4th. Gert Gremes, chairman of the Italian photovoltaic federation Gifi (Gruppo Imprese Fotovoltaiche Italiane) expressed himself cautiously to Europressedienst about the “Conto Energia”, which is in effect since February 23rd. Positively he emphasized the improved possibilities for planning the activities in the photovoltaic sector: “The new Decree in parts surely enforces more continuity for the market, e.g. for the installers. Also the application process became easier”. The new Decree is focusing primarily on small installations up to three kilowatt-peak (kWp). Concerning Gifi, the basic governmental aid should have been at least about 0.44 cent per kilowatt hour because the solar radiation in the North is by far less and thereby the investment with a lower feed-in tariff (FIT) is regarded as inefficient. The lowest FIT is about 0.36 cent for open-space plants with a capacity of more than 20 kWp.
By a selective support of small integrated installations, the Italian government tries to shield the young Italian market from foreign competitors. “Concerning the demand of great quantities, as for example within the export economy in Germany, the Decree not only implies advantages – it even reduces the market potential”, Gremes explained. In which way the recent market participants judge the potential for development in Italy, becomes clear by the results of a new EUPD Research Study, which was presented by project manager Daniela Schreiber at a workshop at the trade fair. In her opinion, the new Decree will allow for a tremendous ease of the application process: “The period from the start of construction up to the power connection of a solar plant will be reduced significantly because the application for feed-in tariffs has no longer to be presented in advance and fewer licenses are needed”.
Altogether, the energy trade in Baden-Wuerttemberg counted about 8,000 visitors and 200 producers. Issues – besides innovative products, the energy efficient refurbishment and the potential of bio fuels – were the use of wind energy and hydro power.
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Photovoltaic market in Italy: Decision on Solar Promotion Postponed to the Beginning of February
01.02.2007
Gifi demands basic promotion, independently from system type and size
Bonn/Milan. The new regulation of the promotion of photovoltaics in Italy keeps one waiting. After responsible ministers had already signed the Decree two weeks ago, it was not on the agenda of the State-Regions-Conference as expected, at which further modifications can be agreed on.
Gert Gremes, president of the Italian Photovoltaic Association Gifi (Gruppo Imprese Fotovoltaiche Italiane) stated towards Europressedienst that the Technical Commission of the State-Regions-Conference is anticipated to decide on the Decree regulating the promotion means for solar energy on Tuesday next week. The final approval is expected for February 14th, 2007.
The new Conto Energia replaces the existing one, which had commenced operation in February 2006. Basic changes refer to the promotion cap, the categorization of systems as well as a simplification of the application procedure. In this connection, Gifi demands a future basic promotion of 0.44 cents per kilowatt hour. A promotion of rooftop or integrated systems should be some cents higher in order to make investments in less sunnier north more profitable. Further investment security was to be achieved by increasing the overall promotion cap and by removing the annual promotion limit of 80 megawatts. At the moment, an increase of the overall promotion cap by 1,000 megawatts to a minimum of 2,000 megawatts until 2015 is under consideration.
Gremes hopes that the new Decree will be approved in February on time in order to prevent an overlap with the old promotion regulations. Moreover, he is confident that especially the simplification of the application procedure – one of the weak points up to now – will energize the Italian market.
Industry discusses new allocation schemes 30.01.2007
Opportunity to harmonize standards during the first trading period not used. Industry demands more significant prices. No lawsuits filed after the evaluation of the National Allocation Plans so far.
London/Bonn. On the “8th Annual Emissions Trading Conference“ taking place between January 22nd to 23rd in London, about 40 representatives of governments, European energy and energy-intensive industry as well as of the EU Commission discussed the challenges of the emissions trading market. In regard of more investment security, the outstanding National Allocation Plans (NAPs) are awaited impatiently. Above all, companies criticized the low certificate prices as well as the continuously missing uniformity, e.g. in terms of monitoring and verification mechanisms. Hence, the first Pre-Kyoto-Period was viewed critically.
Industry demands “more significant“ prices
In regard to the future development of the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) uncertainty remains. An analysis by the Dutch energy consultancy Ecofys showed that the market is currently oversaturated with about 50 million of excess certificates, the so-called EU allowances (EUAs). In view of the surplus, Ann Gardiner, Group Manager Energy and Climate Strategies of Ecofys, underlined the necessity for a change of existing rules of the trading scheme. Vianney Schyns, responsible for climate and energy efficiency of the Dutch Utility Support Group, demanded: “We want a more significant price between 20 and 30 Euros per certificate. Five Euros are neither an incentive nor offer a predictable return on investment”. The enormous volatility was discussed anxiously by industry representatives. Basically, three reasons were held responsible for the current uncertainties: Besides the outstanding adjustments in NAPs being already proved such as the German one, the market still awaits the allocation plans of France, Spain, Poland and Italy. The countries participating in the emissions trading market from the beginning of the first Kyoto period between 2008 and 2012 aggravate the uncertainty of its further development, too. Norway and Australia, for example, are among these countries. Finally, the industry keeps an eye on the actual emissions being published in May 2007. Last year, the release led to an enormous drop in price, which still continuous. Gardiner underlined that in first place the volatility is caused by an ongoing political uncertainty. All in all, participants spoke out rather critically on the first trade period. The opportunity to introduce an improved, harmonized regulation system was missed, according to Chris Dekkers of the Dutch Ministry for Housing, Regional Development and Environment. Thus, for instance the term “combustion installation“ has been discussed for about one year.
Debate concerning new allocation schemes
Participants discussed three possible allocation methods for CO2 certificates. William Kyte, consultant for sustainable development of EON UK, believes that in the future governments will increasingly fall back on auctioning: “It provides the opportunity to minimize windfall profits, generate revenues and complies with the principle that the contaminator has to pay.” However the fact that all 27 Member States could possibly establish different national regulations complicated the system very much, he added. Therewith, he referred to the possibility that different regulation systems could further strengthen present discrepancies within the EU ETS. The opinions of industry representatives regarding benchmarking as another allocation scheme diverged. Within this scope, Scot Imrie of the British subsidiary of International Paper pointed to different CO2 emissions related to various products within the paper industry, which complicated setting a standard parameter for this industry. Bruno Vanderborght, vice president of the environment division of the Swiss Holcim Group Support Ltd., underlined as well that the heterogeneity of products and processes turned benchmarking into a complicated regulation system. Finally, the Grandfathering was discussed very critically. Schyns criticized that it does not provide for a real incentive after all, because one could reduce the production output, too. Kyte of EON UK referred to the matter that in the future the base year will loose its relevance for the fixing of emissions.
No lawsuits filed after the evaluation of the National Allocation Plans so far Damien Meadows of the European Commission confirmed that no lawsuits against proposed cutbacks of reduction goals in the NAPs have reached Brussels, so far. But this could change soon, because Germany check a possible claim against the EU reduction specification: “Who wants peace has to prepare oneself for a war“, declared Federal Minister for the Economy, Michael Glos, last Wednesday on the annual conference of the energy industry hosted by the Handelsblatt.
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