The European Union added 16.5GW of new PV capacity in 2012, representing a 25% decline compared with the 22GW figure recorded in 2011, according to figures published by EurObserv’ER.
The French energy research and analysis company predicts that the slide is set to continue as the industry shifts towards the Asian and the American markets. Indeed, the firm believes that the Asian and American markets helped boost the global PV market, which added just over 30GW in newly installed capacity in the same year.
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According to EurObserv’ER, the strongest markets in the EU in 2012 were Germany with 7,604MW of new capacity followed by Italy with 3,577MW. Together, the two countries accounted for over two-thirds of the total new PV capacity in the region in 2012.
Looking more broadly, EurObserv’ER noted that conditions in the European solar market have not been particularly favourable for market growth in the past year or so with governments introducing taxes on electricity production or retroactive amendments to their laws. Such examples include the Czech Republic where retroactive tax has been applied to PV investments, while the Spanish government has imposed tax on all electricity producers’ earnings.
At the end of 2012, cumulative PV capacity in the EU reached 68,647MW while total output during the year reached 68.1TWh. EurObserv’ER highlighted that output in 2012 was 50% higher than in 2011 and said output is now three times higher than it was in 2010 and covers more than 2% of EU electricity consumption.