EU Photovoltaic Market

Since 2004, Europe has been leading the global market for PV applications. After years of being labeled a German phenomenon, the photovoltaic sector is building momentum across Europe, particularly in Spain. Catalyzed by newly adopted feed-in tariffs, PV development activity in Europe is booming and project size is scaling - causing shifts in competitive positioning along the project development value chain.

In 2008, Europe represented over 80% of the global PV market. Among European countries, Germany, which has been leading the way for several years, was surpassed by Spain, which took over the number 1 position worldwide with around 45% of the global market and 56% of the EU market. Numerous countries are developing promising support schemes for PV, out of which Italy and France are emerging as the new high-potential markets. Some, such as the Czech Republic, Belgium, Bulgaria, Portugal and Greece among others, are following with hopeful support schemes.

The following graph illustrates the solar PV market maturity curve, with the respective positions of the leading European countries with operational PV activity:

Solar PV Market Maturity: 2008

Limited regulatory support	Incentive policies adopted	Long term investments
One-off development	Small transactions	Large transactions
Low penetration	Competition to capture sites	Site availability diminishing
Transmission	Value chain positioning	Tight transmission availability
Speculative transactions	Project financing	Project ownership consolidation

Source: European Wind Energy Association