90
T
he Solar Thermal Electricity Outlook Scenarios in Chapter 5 show that with advanced industry development and high levels of energy efficiency, solar thermal power could meet up to 6 % of the world’s power needs by 2030 and 12% by 2050. Strong market growth of STE will be triggered by a number of factors. Securing the technical and economic viability for the next round of projects is the first step. This requires, among other things, stable pricing and/or incentives to bridge any initial gap in levelised electricity costs, along with corresponding cost reductions of the components and the power produced. Effective financial supports are vital as the high up-front capital investment still constitutes one of the primary barriers to rapid STE deployment. Another key driver of rapid STE deployment is having efficient structures for off-take in order to secure project financing and power purchase agreements.
Solar Thermal Electricity: Global Outlook 2016
New markets and market opportunities, for example, will emerge from exporting power from southern Europe to northern Europe, or North Africa to Europe. These new markets will be vital for the long-term development of the industry. A strong research and development policy is also required to achieve further technical improvements. As true as it is that Europe is not the region where the most significant development of STE is expected to occur, Europe remains a leader for this technology. The first projects realized in Europe based on smart FITs were no doubt a success both in terms of technology achievements and positive impacts on the European economy. The governments of the relevant EU Member States, with the European Commission playing a supporting role, must now put the additional measures in place to keep things moving in the right direction. Together with other renewable resources like wind, PV, geothermal, ocean energy and sustainable forms of bioenergy, STE has a major role to play in the global energy transition needed to prevent a catastrophic climate change.
Obstacles and Barriers Barriers to STE deployment in Europe In Europe, the most dramatic development since the last release of this report was the sudden change of the regulatory and legal framework in Spain that brought the further development of STE to a halt in the EU.
Due to this situation and to the substantial damage suffered by investors, who have filed claims against the Spanish government in international courts, further STE market development will happen outside of Europe. However, the Spanish experience makes abundantly clear that investor protection is another major issue to be solved for improving the deployment conditions for STE. Included below is a list of the primary political, legal and technical and legal barriers in Europe for STE deployment.76 Political and legal barriers: ``Non-use of cooperation mechanisms as established in the RES Directive 2009/28/EC. ``Lack of a post-2020 RES framework with a clear governance model to achieve the 2030 RES targets in Europe. ``Lack of interest on the part of governments to engage in cooperation on RES target achievement. ``Lack of trust regarding on the continuity of a RES target framework beyond 2020. These factors go beyond mere technical considerations on how to jointly match excess and surplus of RES production. ``Uncertainty around sanctions for non-compliance with RES targets. ``A high degree of uncertainty on quantifiable costs and benefits, design options of cooperation mechanisms and difficulties for EU Member States to forecast their own RES target achievements. ``Lack of transmission infrastructure, in particular to move electricity over long distances, and market integration. Barriers to STE deployment in Mediterranean region As mentioned earlier in Chapter 6, although investing in STE in the Mediterranean region have many clear advantages, market development has been slow due to a number of challenges. These challenges tend to fall into three broad categories: political willingness, grid infrastructure and connections and cost and availability of financing. Political willingness: ``Policymakers have a tendency to favour shortterm solutions to problems in the energy sec76 ECOFYS: Cooperation between EU Member States under the RES Directive, 2014.