Strategic Choices for Sustainability at EU Regional Level - The Sustainability of Renewable Energy in Europe - page 96

The incorporation of these directives, with high-enough constraints on older build-
ings, will allow the industry to face new challenges both in terms of production cost
and in terms of efficiency of the systems.

4.2.2 Photovoltaic in EU Countries

From 2010 to 2012, the growth of photovoltaic in the EU has been mainly driven by
speculative investments that took advantage of the difference between the levels of
guaranteed remuneration and the very rapid decline in the production's cost. Some
governments are trying to affect costs by introducing taxes on the production of
electricity or retrospectively by amending their laws. The Czech Republic has been
the first country to take the first steps in this direction: by the end of 2010, it has
adopted a tax on investments made previously between 2009 and 2010. Bulgaria
has introduced a tax on access to the grid for the systems entered service from April
2010. Greece has introduced at the end of 2012, a tax of up to 30 %, on the proceeds
of the systems already installed or systems that will be installed in the future. Bel-
gium has also moved in this direction and Spain has introduced a 7 % tax on the
earnings of all electricity producers. The European Photovoltaic Industry Associa-
tion has asked the EU to take measures against countries that fail to fulfill their
commitments in terms of support for RES. Some markets have had a rather posi-
tive development of the PV market: France and Greece have passed the threshold
of 1 GWp. In particular, France has connected to the network 1079 MWp in 2012
and the overall photovoltaic park connected to the grid has risen to 4003 MWp. In
order to stimulate the market, in January 2013, the French government has put in
place new rules through two measures related to a change in the tariff system and
a bonus on the tariffs for European manufacture modules. The UK market is not
particularly dynamic in 1655 MWp in 2012 connected to the network; for this rea-
son, the British regulator for the electricity and gas markets (Ofgem) has decided to
maintain stable support measures to photovoltaics. The Danish and the Dutch mar-
ket took off in 2012, thanks to the success of the net metering. 1 Denmark is, in fact,
one of the few EU countries to have had a significant growth of its fleet in early
January 2013, having exceeded the threshold of 400 MWp, thanks to the system
of net metering by allowing individuals with photovoltaic systems to offset their
electricity consumption with their productions on an annual basis. All consumption
in compensation during the year is exempted by the payment of the electricity fee
and network fee and also by very high taxes on electricity consumption in Den-
mark. The installed capacity is also increased in the Netherlands with additional
175 MWp in 2012, almost three times that of 2011, with a total capacity connected
to the grid in 2012 that equals 316 MWp. Germany has surpassed its own record
of installations, having connected to the network 7604 MWp in 2012 compared to

1 Net metering is a mechanism that allows to enter into the grid the net electricity generated by
a system of private production of electricity, but not immediately self-consumed, and then pick
the energy up at a later date to satisfy its electricity consumption (Edison Electric Institute 2013 ).