CEE Solar 2008
CD Conference Proceedings available to order now!
EastEuro Link hosted its Inaugural Central and East European Solar Energy Conference on 21st November in Athens. The event was a tremendous opportunity to enhance understanding of recent developments in the CEE Solar Energy industry and gain insights into the future prospects. Taking place in the beautiful city of Athens the event was attended by a range of the industry experts.
Mr. Jerry Stokes, the President of Suntech’s European region, introduced the conference and chaired the event excellently throughout the day in a friendly and constructive atmosphere.
The first speaker to take stand was Ms. Violetta Groseva, Manager of the Sofia Energy Centre. She brought an excellent overview of the solar market in the new EU member states with an emphasis on Bulgaria and Romania. The presentation was based on the EAST-GSR project results which supported the development of the sustainable solar thermal market in the new EU countries.
Another important topic covered in the morning session was the Solar policy landscape in Germany, presented by Mr. Andreas Hahn, sales director of Schott Solar. His in-depth analysis contributed to the better understanding of the German model success. He concluded that the solar energy business was a profitable business, also highlighting its socio-economic importance. The Renewable Energy Sources Act was identified as the most successful instrument to promote the expansion of the renewable energies.
The next country in focus was Greece and the overview of a state of the Greek solar thermal systems, presented by Ms. Rosie Christodulaki from the Centre for Renewable Energy Sources. She pointed out that Greece was one of the most successful countries worldwide in the use of solar thermal energy. However there is still a large growth potential.
After a lively networking break, Ms. Christine Brockwell, Vice President of Global Capital Finance shared the experience from the two PV development projects in the Murcia region, analysing in details all the challenges and success factors. Totana and Lorca case studies provided plenty of useful information for everyone considering PV project development.
The next speaker to take stand was Mr. Álvaro García-Maltrás, Manager for Spain, Portugal and South Eastern Europe at Trinasolar, who spoke about benefits of vertical integration as a business model in the PV industry. After presenting Trinasolar experience, he concluded that the vertical integration was the most appealing business model for solar in the long term as it provided more manufacturing flexibility, access to higher margins, defensible position and greater commercial opportunities along the value chain.
Following lunch break where delegates had the additional opportunity to network, Mr. Sauro Mostarda from Solar Ventures addressed the issue of investment opportunities in the Italian Solar Market. He provided the overview of the current situation in the market and highlighted the key benefits and considerations for investors.
Talking about how to build a competitive edge in the project business, build the capabilities to capitalize on it and how to sustain both when business is growing; Mr. Uwe Techt, CEO of VISTEM GmbH & Co. KG, gave a significant contribution to the conference agenda.
This was followed by an excellent presentation given by Mr. Jerry Stokes, the conference chairman and Suntech’s European region president. He examined a route to grid parity saying that once the solar achieves grid parity, the market for solar is boundless. Mr. Stokes also presented Suntech and its broad product portfolio.
To conclude the conference day, Dr. Evangelos Zoidis, CTO at Solar Tec AG, provided an excellent presentation on the Sol*Con Concentrator PV-Technology and its Deployment Potential in CEE Region. Highlighting the enormous market potential and key market drivers, Mr. Zoidis presented Solar Tec Group which is active in all three generations of photovoltaics.
After a highly informative day for everyone, Mr. Stokes summarised the wide range of ideas and discussions that had taken place throughout the day. The participants were then free to engage in additional networking opportunities at the cocktail reception.
EastEuro Link would like to thank all of you who supported the event and contributed to its success. We would also like to thank all of you who took part in the conference, recognising the value we can offer to your business and the prosperity of CEE Solar Energy industry.
We look forward to our future cooperation!
Information about future events of this kind and enquires concerning purchasing the presentations' CD are available at london@easteurolink.co.uk or call + 44 (0) 20 72758020.
