Oliver Schäfer, the newly appointed president of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), has outlined some of the core activities that the Association will undertake to allow PV to grow from a niche player into a mainstream electricity provider.
Schäfer, who is director for market development and policy at California-based PV manufacturer SunPower, which is in turn majority owned by France’s Total, was elected as the new EPIA president at the association’s Annual General Meeting in Brussels on March 7.
In an open letter, Schäfer underlined that EPIA would now focus on policy advocacy to achieve the necessary legislation that will create favorable and sustainable framework conditions for PV in Europe. This will involve remaining in permanent contact with decision makers at all levels of the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament, he said.
Schäfer stressed that EPIA would continue to proactively engage with electricity system and market stakeholders and focus on high-quality intelligence work, in order to secure a sustainable development pathway for PV. Furthermore, EPIA will continue to actively engage with national associations from all European Member States, to strengthen the voice of PV and drive relevant policies across the whole continent.
Meanwhile, according to preliminary market figures for 2013 released by EPIA in March, last year was another record year for PV, with global cumulative installed capacity reaching 136.7 GW at the end of the year – up 35% from the end of 2012.
However, despite the overall positive picture, the figures show that this growth is led by dynamic markets in Asia – particularly China and Japan, while the development of PV markets in Europe is slowing. EPIA sees this decline as the result of a reduction in support for renewables in a number of European countries, along with retrospective measures and unplanned changes to regulatory frameworks, which have had an adverse effect on investor confidence.
The support framework planned by the new EPIA president aims to mitigate this adverse effect and help Europe retain its leading position in the energy transition and contribute to the further development of PV markets.