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Italy: solar capacity to hit 30 GW in 2020

According to Fulvio Conti, chief executive of Italy“s biggest utility, Enel, Italy“s booming solar power market is expected to grow nearly four times to 30 gigawatts of capacity by 2020 as part of i…

According to Fulvio Conti, chief executive of Italy“s biggest utility, Enel, Italy“s booming solar power market is expected to grow nearly four times to 30 gigawatts of capacity by 2020 as part of incentive-driven efforts to fight climate change. Italy“s solar market is the world“s second-largest after Germany, and has grown rapidly since 2007, when the government boosted production subsidies, attracting the world“s biggest makers of photovoltaic modules. As of 30 June, we have already exceeded a national target set for 2020 of eight gigawatts (GW), Conti said at the official opening of a new solar modules manufacturing plant. Going ahead at the same pace, we can estimate that we can arrive at 30 GW in 2020, he added. In May, the government cut incentives to reduce the burden on consumers who support the scheme through power bills. However, market growth has once again picked up as investors and industry operators still see satisfactory returns. Italy remains a very promising solar market for Japan“s Sharp Corp., Sharp Corporation President Katsuhiko Machida said at the opening ceremony. Italy has an additional investment appeal as it is expected to reach the so-called grid parity in a few years, ahead of many other countries, according to industry executives. Sharp and Enel Green Power (EGP), Enel“s renewable energy arm, and STMicroelectronics, own the new plant near Catania on the island of Sicily, which will produce thin film photovoltaic (PV) modules with a total 160 megawatt capacity a year. Production will start at the end of 2011 and capacity is expected to increase up to 480 MW of modules a year by 2014. Total investment in the initial stage to bring the capacity to 160 MW amounted to EUR 400 million (USD 572.2 million). We can arrive even at 1,000 MW a year (capacity) if the market absorbs it, EGP chief executive Francesco Starace said. Modules produced at the plant will be sold by Sharp and EGP, and will also be used by another joint venture between EGP and Sharp, called ESSE, in projects to develop solar power in Italy, elsewhere in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Manufacturing solar modules in Italy will reduce the local market“s dependence on foreign suppliers and help Enel and its partners to compete with major rivals. Encouraged by an explosive growth of the solar market in Italy and many other countries, EGP has increased investment in PV power generation and may increase PV share in its energy mix, Starace said.

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