Europe to Surpass 250 GW Installed Solar Capacity by 2024: Report

According to a new report, the total installed solar capacity in Europe will surpass 250 GW by 2024, with new solar installations doubling in the next 3 years

According to a new report, new solar installations in Europe will double in the next 3 years to reach a level of approximately 20 GW/year, and the total installed capacity in the region will surpass 250 GW by 2024.

The report ‘Europe Solar PV Market Outlook 2019’, by consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables reveals that Germany will remain the continents largest solar PV market, installing 21 GW between 2019 and 2024. Spain will come a close second, with almost 20 GW of mostly utility-scale capacity expected. And a total of 7 European countries will install at least 5 GW during the period, while eighteen will install more than 1 GW.

Tom Heggarty, Senior Analyst at WoodMac, said, “Solar PV is growing in Europe against a backdrop of rapid power sector decarbonisation. Several EU member states have already committed to 100% renewable power or zero-carbon power targets, while the EU is discussing the adoption of an economy-wide net-zero emissions target by 2050. Over 170GW of gas, coal and nuclear capacity will be displaced from the market by 2040. Solar PV’s share of generation will reach 13% by 2040 up from 4% today.”

“Competitive auctions have taken over from feed-in tariffs as the most popular means of procuring solar PV in Europe. 24 GW of capacity was awarded to the end of 2018, with another 47 GW confirmed across more than a dozen markets. In-line with EU guidelines on state aid for renewable energy, technology-neutral procurement is becoming more commonplace, with solar increasingly being exposed to direct competition with other renewable power technologies – particularly onshore wind,” he added.

The report noted that Feed-in tariffs and subsidies will be withdrawn from many markets within the next 5 years, creating pressure on profitability and cost. Most investors will see their exposure to wholesale power prices increase and with that, the price cannibalisation will become a growing issue as renewable energy penetration increases.

The report further added that distributed solar generation for self-consumption remains a crucial part of Europe’s solar market and will account for nearly 40% of capacity installed from 2019 to 2024.

“The region has a patchwork of different models to incentivise deployment – from FITs to net metering, to investment rebates. As government support is scaled back, it will be necessary to increase rates of self-consumption in order to make investments stack up. Pairing solar with battery storage will become more commonplace,” said Heggarty.