Today (March 4) in Brussels, the European Commission published a draft Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), which aims to support the decarbonisation of industry, strengthen EU competitiveness, and encourage the production of key materials, like solar panels, to be Made-in-EU'.
This proposed Act will now be negotiated and amended by the EU co-legislators (the European Parliament and the Council of the EU). SolarPower Europe has issued the following statement in response.
Dries Acke, Deputy CEO of SolarPower Europe (he/him) said:
"Today's proposed Industrial Accelerator Act is a watershed moment for industrial policy in Europe.
The IAA on the table would allow EU countries, for the first time, to give preference to EU manufactured solar and battery storage systems, in parts of their public auctions, procurement, and support schemes.
By focussing on Made-in-EU solar inverters and cells, the European Commission has largely found a balance between reshoring production of the most strategic solar PV system components, while avoiding overly restrictive requirements too early. This means support for European manufacturers, without negatively impacting affordable solar deployment. There is an important caveat here, however, that Made-in-EU' must indeed mean made in Europe - the EU and EEA.
On the other hand, the requirements for battery energy systems are stricter and kick in too early. This risks being counterproductive, especially given the urgent need to rapidly scale-up battery energy storage systems. Battery storage is the absolute short cut to maximising Europe's use of domestically produced renewable electricity and reducing Europe's exposure to punishing fossil gas import prices. Accelerating battery storage fundamentally underpins the top EU security and competitiveness priorities.
It is now essential that the legislators work on simplifying the legislation so that it can be implemented effectively in a harmonised way across Europe, with limited administrative burden. Anything else would directly contradict the EU leaders' call for strengthening the Single Market and lowering administrative burdens."
Notes
- The Industrial Accelerator Act was published today alongside the Annexes to the IAA, the Subsidiarity Grid accompanying the IAA, the Impact Assessment Report, the Executive Summary of the Impact Assessment, and a factsheet. The European Commission press release can be found here.
- The IAA introduces a set of measures to accelerate industrial capacity and decarbonisation in key strategic sectors by:
- Streamlining permitting for industrial manufacturing and energy-intensive decarbonisation projects.
- Introducing Made-in-EU and low carbon requirements in public procurement, auctions, and public support schemes for selected energy-intensive products and net-zero technologies.
- Imposing strict conditions on foreign direct investment in emerging key strategic sectors, including ownership caps, mandatory EU joint ventures, Intellectual Property (IP) licensing, local R&D spending, workforce and local sourcing requirements.
- Designating industrial manufacturing acceleration areas, with preferential access to finance, materials, skills, energy infrastructure, and additional permitting benefits.
- Amending the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), including on origin requirements for public procurement (Art. 25), renewable energy auctions (Art. 26), and public support schemes (Art. 28), cybersecurity and high-risk supplier rules, and by adding battery energy storage systems (BESS) to renewable energy auctions.
- For solar PV, the proposal requires that from three years after entry into force, projects awarded through public procurement, auctions for net-zero technology and public support schemes, must include PV inverters and solar cells (or equivalent components) manufactured in the EU.
- For BESS, the proposal introduces a phased "Made in Europe" requirement. From one year after entry into force, BESS must originate in the EU and systems larger than 1 MWh must include an EU-made battery management system. From three years after entry into force, systems must additionally include EU-manufactured battery cells and at least one additional main specific component.
Contact
Bethany Meban
b.meban@solarpoweurope.org
