Worldwide investment in photovoltaics has reached 500 billion dollars, significantly outstripping the 400 billion dollars allocated to other energy technologies. But Europe needs a real “revolution” in investments to make energy grids more flexible, said Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe.
“The problem is that over a third of Europe’s power distribution lines are over 40 years old and need to be digitalized. Grid investment needs to be a revolution. We need energy storage capacities of 200 GW by 2030 and hybrid wind-storage or solar-storage parks must be realized. We need a lot of flexibility in the system to reduce prices and annual investment needs by several billion euros”, she said at the Energy Strategy Summit 2024, organized by Energynomics.
Over 100 GW of photovoltaic panels have been installed in Europe in the last two years, enough to power 30 million homes. Currently, 260 GW of photovoltaics are installed across Europe and the EU’s plan is to reach 750 GW by 2030. To meet this target, Europe needs to install an average of 75 GW of solar power annually. Worldwide, by 2023, 450 GW of solar will have been installed.
“It’s important to know that solar and wind are the cheapest types of energy, but in Europe we have the problem that companies are paying double the price [for energy] compared to companies in America or even more than in China. However, if we add storage units to photovoltaics, we can reduce the price of [power] below that of natural gas,” Hemetsberger added.
Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and Contracts for Difference (CfDs), as well as new business models, are also needed to encourage small private firms to invest. One such model is “energy sharing”, a concept where someone installs as many photovoltaic panels on their roof as they can and then shares the energy produced with their neighbors.
Energy Strategy Summit 2024 was organized by Energynomics, with support from our partners: ABB, ADC, Alive Capital, BayWa r.e, BCR, Best Tools Company, CRC Energy, Distribuție Energie Electrica Romania, DRI, Eaton Electric, Electrica Furnizare, Elektra Renewable Support, EnergoBit, Energo Power, Enevo Group, Evryo, Exim Banca Românească, Hidroelectrica, Horvath, Huawei, Jinko Solar, Keno Energy, MET România Energy, Nofar Energy, Nuclearelectrica, OX2, Photomate, PNE, Polytrade, Renomia Gallagher, Romgaz, Schneider Electric, SolaX Power, TDP Partners, ThinkBlu Solution, Transelectrica, Vertis, WALDEVAR Energy. With the support of Alexandrion Group, Mobexpert.
Strategic partners: ACUE, AFEER, AIIR, AHK România, ARPEE, CNR-CME, CRE, EFdeN, EPG, HENRO, FPPG, PATRES, ROMATOM, RPIA, RWEA, SAMER.
Media partners: CISOLAR, The Voice of Renewables