RES Scenario in the European Union - The Sustainability of Renewable Energy in Europe - page 48

market while the previous year had its share of almost three quarters. In 2012, the
EU has added to the network 16.5 GW of new capacity for PV, showing a decrease
of 25 % compared to 22 GW recorded in 2011.
Over the past 3 years, the growth in the EU was primarily driven by speculative
investments that took advantage of the constant difference between the levels of
guaranteed remuneration and the very rapid decline in production costs. Some gov-
ernments have difficulties to overcome this situation and they are trying to mitigate
the costs by introducing taxes on electricity production or retroactively changing
their own laws. The situation is quite critical so that the European Photovoltaic
Industry Association has appealed to the EU for you to take measures against coun-
tries that fail to fulfill their commitments on support of RES. It is possible to note
the paradox of the EU market where some governments have decided to reduce the
volume of installations when it is about to be reached grid parity in their electricity
market.
The EU photovoltaic industry is dominated by Germany and Italy, respectively
on the first and second place (Table 2.8 ). Together, the two countries in 2012 ac-
counted for over two thirds of the total number of new solar capacity installed at
community level, thanks to respectively 76 and 35 GW. Anyway, there have been
a decline in demand in Italy and Germany due to cuts in incentives and uncertainty
linked to the trade dispute with China 4 .
Lower decrease of installations, compared to 2012, is being recorded even in
smaller markets such as Belgium, Denmark, Bulgaria, France, Greece, the Neth-
erlands, Slovenia, and Spain, while the UK, Austria, and Romania in 2013 have
grown significantly. In particular, the UK market is the largest market in the first
quarter of 2014, especially in the rush to complete the great PV parks before the cuts
of the renewable obligation certificate that are British green certificates. After four
consecutive quarters of decline, Germany is expected to resume and regain his place
as leader of the PV in the second half of 2014 even though the installed capacity in
2014 will be lower than in 2013. To keep alive the German demand, there will be
mainly installations in self-consumption; self-consumption will be the spring that
will restart the Italian market.
Despite the current difficult economic conditions, the number of new PV mar-
kets is increasing. This, together with rising energy prices and the pressure to sta-
bilize the climate, maintains high demand for solar energy systems. The production
of electricity by PV modules has already demonstrated that it can be cheaper than
conventional electricity currently provided to consumers in many countries.
Concerning biomass, data available in November 2011 on the use of solid bio-
mass in the EU (practically wood for the production of heat or electricity) highlight
the increase of the use of biomass during the entire 2010, an increase of 8 % corre-
sponding to an amount passed from 73.4 Mtoe in 2009 to 79.3 Mtoe in 2010. It has
4 China imposes two kinds of duties: the antidumping and antisubsidy for imports of polysilicon
for photovoltaic panels from the USA and South Korea. As part of the Chinese government, the
decision should strongly discourage the use of external materials, strengthening domestic produc-
tion.