With multiple European countries submitting their revised National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) in recent months, the European Union (EU) is targeting an extra 90GW of solar capacity by 2030.
SolarPower Europe said in a recent study that as of 2022 the EU boasts 208GW of installed solar capacity. Based on NECPs submitted in 2019, the EU was targeting 335GW of installed solar capacity by 2030.
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However, after the revised NECPs submitted by 12 countries, the EU is targeting installed solar capacity of 425GW by 2030, 90GW higher. Eight countries will reach their new 2030 targets at least three years early.
Lithuania significantly increased its target by more than 500% in its revised NECP to 5.1GW by 2030. Finland (133.3%), Portugal (126.7%), Slovenia (105.9%), and Sweden (117.9) also increased their targets by more than 100%.
Spain also updated its NECP with an increased target for solar PV of 76GW (94%) by 2030.
Moreover, four EU countries already reached their set solar target for 2030, including Estonia (0.4GW), Ireland (0.4GW), Latvia (0GW) and Poland (7.3GW). A total of 19 countries will most likely reach their target within the next five years, with Belgium (8GW) and Malta (0.3GW) reaching their targets this year.
Italy (79GW), Lithuania (5.1GW), Portugal (20.4GW) and Slovenia (3.5GW) will likely reach their revised goals between 2027 and 2030.
The European Commission (EC) set a target of 750GW by 2030. SolarPower Europe said that based on the current trends the EU will have more than 900GW of installed solar capacity by 2030.
“Our latest analysis reveals that the way governments think about solar has definitively changed. However, given that the role of a target is to go beyond business-as-usual, and sketch out the plan for the new energy system, ambition is still falling short,” said Raffaele Rossi, head of market intelligence at SolarPower Europe.