Solar Heat Europe (SHE) was honoured to participate today in the 2nd anniversary of REPowerEU, organised by the European Commission (EC). Valérie Séjourné, Managing Director of SHE, represented the solar thermal sector at the event, delivering a speech that highlighted crucial points relevant to the sector.

REPowerEU and the Solar Strategy, launched in May 2022, were necessary in responding to the Russian aggression on European territory and provided emergency measures for Europeans citizens and the security of their energy supply. These also helped accelerate our momentum to address the climate crisis and the Paris Agreement. REPowerEU demonstrated the EU’s relevance and EC’s capacity to lead, in extremely hard circumstances. Congratulations to the EC for their efforts and work to handle this unprecedented moment in the life of Europe.

However, whilst on paper the measures gave the right signals, the reality on the ground, for the solar thermal sector, have been quite different:

• The solar heat market in Europe, whilst being long established with a reliable solution used on 10 million rooftops, as well as in district heating and industry. It grew post-pandemic by +8% in 2021 and +12% in 2022, reaching 40.5 GW_th of installed capacity at the end of 2022. We will soon release the final figures for 2023 but there, whilst the total installed capacity in Europe will continue to grow, we will be reporting varying national trends with some some countries like France and Greece seeing an 8% increase, while Germany experienced a significant 40% sales reduction in 2023.
• The current growth rate of our sector falls short of the EU Solar Strategy’s ambitions, which suggest our sector should at least triple by 2030—from 40.5 GW_th to 140 GW_th. Clearly, we need to scale up!
• Some of the measures announced yesterday by the EC such as faster permitting or renewable acceleration areas are positive. However:

1. they must provide a clearer political signal supporting solar heat (e.g. by expanding tool such as the PVGIS to solar thermal).
2. they must address the specificities of the heat sector which requires, for example, solar thermal fields to be close to cities to avoid heat losses. Priority areas should thus be organised for the best technology compared to others in each specific case (e.g. solar heat for district heating).

Solar Heat Europe calls for a more mid- and long-term approach beyond the emergency measures of REPowerEU back in 2022, to ensure the delivery of an adequate and sustainable energy transition in Europe.

In simple terms, we should move from the concept of “Re-Power EU” to “Re-Energise EU”.

• By adapting the name from RE-Power EU to Re-Energise EU, we will better reflect what we are addressing: the provision of clean, resilient energy solutions for all our energy needs. Heat represents HALF of our total energy needs. To add resilience to our energy system, we need to focus on heat decarbonisation through various decentralised solutions. Although electrification, especially for transport, is essential, we must also enhance direct renewable heat supplies that operate off-grid and can provide heat for households and industrial processes. The energy transition must make the most out of all available renewable energy supplies and solar heat is definitely one of them. Solar thermal is resilient, provides security of supply and is independent from geo-political developments. It can be combined with other sources such as heat pumps or PV, including cost efficient thermal energy storage, making them work together in an optimal and efficient way. ReEnergising EU will give the political signal that ALL technology solutions are needed and welcomed; it will also help raise awareness where needed, giving visibility to all solutions equally.
• The concept of “Re-Energise EU” also encompasses the dimension of EU’s competitiveness. The sector solar thermal is proud to count hundreds of SMEs manufacturing in the EU. They all work respecting strict certification standards such as the Solar Keymark, which guarantees performance to the end users. They are ready to make the solar heat market grow and they want to continue exporting like Greece, which exports 70% of its production worldwide. Our sector is ready for expansion, with new production lines opening up. While we empathise with the EU PV industry’s current challenges, we must ensure the solar heat sector does not face similar issues in the future. We have also some innovative technologies combining both PV and Solar thermal (PVT) which also have a big potential to flourish. NZIA is definitely a right step and we are proud to be in it. We need to support their innovation needs and we need to ensure that they are protect from unfair competition from abroad.
• Finally, the concept of “Re-Energise EU” can enhance the momentum among the financial community, industries, cities, citizens, students and universities, showing that the energy transition is the way to go. Having the right financial framework to support the modernisation and decarbonisation efforts, having the right people designing the future H&C plan for cities, having the right market signal for the ETS carbon price and gas prices to move towards better alternatives.

The solar heat sector is ready to play its part in the energy transition. A few weeks ago, we launched our Manifesto for the incoming legislators. Solar HEAT is SMART = Supplying our Biggest Energy need ie HEAT; Manufactured in Europe; Affordable; Resilient, reliable and recyclable; in need to Triple.

The energy transition requires a more comprehensive approach. Now is the time to allow all relevant technologies to flourish, to enable SMEs, bigger companies, and project developers to grow and create jobs, and to work hand in hand as renewables sectors to provide citizens and industries with the best solutions for clean and renewable energy supplies.

Let’s “RE-Energise EU” and make the Solar Heat sector even SMARTER!