As Europe is accelerating its green transformation, the Spanish and Portuguese photovoltaic industry insiders said recently that they are optimistic about the prospects of cooperation with Chinese companies in the field of solar power generation.
The Francisco Pizaro solar power plant, located in the autonomous region of Extremadura in southwestern Spain, is the largest photovoltaic plant in Europe, built and operated by Spanish power company Iveldroora and opened last summer. During a recent visit to the power plant, I learned that all the solar panels it uses are from China.
The company Extremadura area renewable energy development commissioner Jose Berliot told reporters at the scene, Francisco Pisaro solar power plant installed capacity of about 590 megawatts, composed of 1.5 million solar panels, 13,700 trackers and 313 inverters, to provide green and clean energy for 334,000 households.
Berliot said that the Chinese-made photovoltaic panels had no problems after they were put into operation. “The Chinese photovoltaic products properly met our needs.”
Spain is the second-largest solar power market in Europe. According to a report released by the European Solar Energy Industry Association at the end of last year, Spain’s total installed photovoltaic capacity is expected to reach 26.4 gigawatts by the end of 2022, adding 7.5 gigawatts last year alone. Data show that the EU added 41.1 gigawatts of new photovoltaic capacity in 2022, an increase of 47% over 2021.
Jose Donoso Alonso, secretary-general of the Spanish Photovoltaic Association, told reporters that the quality and cost advantages of Chinese photovoltaic products are obvious to all. At present, Spain imports mainly inverters and photovoltaic panels from China, and these products are very competitive.
Portugal is also a big importer of Chinese photovoltaic products. Pedro Amaral George, CEO of the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association, told reporters that Chinese-made photovoltaic panels account for about 85 percent of the market share in Portugal, with the highest quality certification and being recognized by power companies and financing institutions.
Alonso said Spain plans to reach 30 gigawatts of total installed photovoltaic capacity by 2030, but the target was expected to rise to 55 GW to 65 GW given the interest of investors and developments in the industry. George said Portugal plans to reach 9 gigawatts of total installed photovoltaic capacity by 2030, but the government could raise the target to 18 GW to 20 gigawatts.
Alonso believes that the cooperation between Spain and China is crucial to promoting the development of the global photovoltaic industry, and Spain’s large-scale development of the photovoltaic industry will also help China to explore the European market.
George said Portugal must strengthen cooperation with China to reach 20 gigawatts, and expects Chinese companies to make more construction and investment in the European photovoltaic industry.
Post time: Aug-14-2023