Today, the European solar industry unveiled its initiative to deliver an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) for solar inverters. The announcement came during the launch of the paper, “Inverters 2.0: Strengthening Europe’s Inverter Industry,” at Intersolar Europe in Munich. Representatives from the inverter industry presented the IPCEI concept to Kerstin Jorna, Director-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs at the European Commission.
European inverters are poised to harness technological advancements essential for the electrification and digitalization of the energy system. The IPCEI aims to ensure that the EU inverter ecosystem retains a global innovation edge. As European inverter manufacturers face growing competition, a swiftly implemented IPCEI is seen as crucial for stimulating innovative and sustainable investment, enabling Europe to maintain its competitive position globally.
Dries Acke, Deputy CEO and Policy Director at SolarPower Europe, emphasized the importance of this initiative. “We need to build on the success story of European inverters. The electrification wave is a critical opportunity for Europe’s inverters to seize the innovation edge and establish a competitive global market share. An IPCEI is the foundation for Europe to entrench its world-leading spot in inverters that go the extra mile – supporting the grid, securing cyber-preparedness, and strengthening digital interoperability,” Acke stated.
The IPCEI focuses on several key areas:
- Technical Capacity of Power Electronics: Enhancing the technical capabilities of inverters.
- Access to Critical Components: Reducing material requirements for inverters.
- Grid Forming Abilities: Supporting smoother solar integration into the grid.
- Enhanced Cybersecurity: Strengthening digitalization and ensuring interoperability within the European energy system.
The initiative outlines three main projects: improving hardware, developing smarter software, and achieving a disruptive technological breakthrough. Germany, Austria, Spain, and Italy, which currently host significant inverter manufacturing capacities, are identified as potential leaders of the project.
The Joint European Forum for IPCEI (JEF-IPCEI) will hold its next meetings in Q4 2024, chaired by Ms. Jorna and Olivier Guersent, Director-General for Competition in the European Commission. These meetings will evaluate candidate technologies and decide on their suitability for the IPCEI procedure.
Inverter Market Key Facts
The report, “Inverters 2.0,” also includes updated market data:
- In 2023, the EU had a solar inverter manufacturing capacity equivalent to 82.1 GW, compared to around 60 GW of solar installations in the same period.
- Despite growth and reinvestment plans by some EU inverter companies, their market share in Europe is shrinking.
- The inverter industry employed approximately 35,000 people in the EU as of 2023.
- At least 14 inverter companies operate within the EU.
- Spain and Germany are the leading countries for inverter production, with Spain contributing almost half of the total EU manufacturing capacity from four companies, while Germany hosts almost a third of the capacity from at least eight producers.
