Eight countries will pass the 1 GW threshold in annual PV installations by the end of 2017, GTM

GTM Research expects eight countries will top the 1 GW mark in annual PV installations by the end of this year. By the end of 2018, that number will grow to 13 countries. According to GTM Research’s latest »Global Solar Demand Monitor«, the next five countries to cross the 1 GW annual threshold will be Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, the Netherlands and Spain.
Furthermore, GTM Research expects a 35 percent increase in European demand in 2018, led by Spain with 3.9 GW of PV contracted through a recent technology-neutral auction, which is set to be delivered between 2018 and 2019. Spain’s solar market will increase from 40 MW in 2017 to 1.4 GW in 2018. The Netherlands will also surpass one gigawatt in 2018, expects the consultancy. Overall, »Europe is moving toward a subsidy-free market.«
Led by Mexico and Brazil, Latin American solar demand is expected to more than double in 2018. »Brazil is about to become a 1 GW market on the heels of developing several large utility-scale projects tendered in 2014,« said Manan Parikh, GTM Research senior analyst. Mexico currently has the second-largest demand for electricity in the region and is home to favorable renewable energy targets.
Egypt’s solar market will grow fivefold between 2017 and 2018, reaching 1.4 GW. More than 1.5 GW of utility-scale projects in Egypt have now reached financial close, driven almost entirely by a large international development bank financing consortium. »We expect the majority these projects to be realized in late 2018 and early 2019,« says the study. GTM Research anticipates cumulative 606 GW to be installed globally between 2017 and 2022.
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