Energy Transition

New EU solar reshoring boost as Iberdrola backs 'industrial scale' factory in Spain

Renewables giant teams up with local developer and panel maker Exiom for $21m plant in Asturias financed by its Perseo start-up programme

Iberdrola joins the likes of Meyer Burger in reviving EU solar production.
Iberdrola joins the likes of Meyer Burger in reviving EU solar production.Foto: Meyer Burger

Renewables giant Iberdrola has teamed up with local developer and panel maker Exiom to set up a PV module factory in Langreo, Spain, as Europe tries to reshore at least parts of the solar industry.

The plant that is slated to start operations with a 200MW production line as soon as this year and eventually have a capacity of 500MW has an initial investment of €20m ($21.29m); it is aimed at attracting part of the value chain linked to renewable energy to Spain and turn the country into a hub for the re-emerging solar sector on an industrial scale.

It will also contribute to reactivate declined mining regions with the creation of 115 direct jobs.

“The opening of this new factory in Europe responds to the interest of both companies in achieving competitive manufacturing at EU level, focused initially on solar panels with the possibility of extending the collaboration to other components in the photovoltaic supply chain,” Iberdrola said in a statement.

Exiom has developed 650 solar projects inside and outside Spain with a combined capacity of 1GW, and already has two solar panel manufacturing sites in China. The company also owns a factory of steel structures for PV plants in Langreo.

Iberdrola, along with Italy’s Enel and Swiss panel maker Meyer Burger is among leading companies that have urged the European Commission in December to take bold action to boost investment in Europe’s PV industrial base – also in reaction to measures in competing large markets, such as the US whose Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) grants benefits for expenditures, India which provides advantages through an innovative auction design, or China.
The initiative came after industry lobby SolarPower Europe and the EU innovation institute EIT InnoEnergy in 2021 had launched the European Solar Initiative, which aims to see at least 20GW of PV manufacturing in the EU by 2025 — incorporating each part of the solar panel manufacturing process, from polysilicon ingots to wafers, cells and modules.

Europe’s once dominant solar manufacturing sector had collapsed in the last decade, as companies were unable to compete with a new wave of Chinese suppliers helped by cheap state finance, low labour costs, economies of scale and, at times, dumping practices.

Germany’s vice chancellor Robert Habeck yesterday had proposed a range of subsidies to help the struggling wind and solar supply chains, including Capex and Opex support towards building new PV supply chains. He also suggested to carry out a feasibility study on how to re-shore the PV supply chain, and said he hopes for a push also from other EU member states such as Spain in innovation support via the EU’s IPCEI-PV (Important Projects of Common European Interest – PV) mechanism.

Exiom’s Asturian solar panel factory will be backed by Iberdrola’s Perseo programme for innovating start-ups and industrial businesses.

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Published 22 February 2023, 09:41Updated 22 February 2023, 11:44
EuropeSpainIberdrolaPV