Spain put in place large subsidies in order to allow its solar sector to surge, but when the government decided to substantially cut its feed-in tariff (FIT), it had no idea of the negative impact the action would have on its budding solar industry.
Large investments flowed into the country after the announcement of its FIT, helping Spain reach the three-year target it had previously established in only three months. September 2008 saw a shift in that hype as the government cut FITs between 25-29% which lowered the installed capacity to 100 MW in 2009 from the 2,700 MW in 2008.
The European country continued its downward spiral as the continent’s solar leader with its 45% cut of subsidized tariffs for ground-mounted solar energy projects in 2010. Thus far, 75,000 jobs have been lost and if the situation continues on this downward spiral, another 40,000 jobs are expected to follow.
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