EnergyearUK Investment & Developments opened the debate on the current possibilities, challenges and opportunities for the European renewable energy market.

With the European Commission's electricity market reform proposal on the table, some of the experts gave their analysis at the event.

During the 'European Solar Market Outlook' panel, Enrico Ambrosini, Senior Vice President of Green Investment Group, Macquarie, pointed out that the proposal represents good news for investors. According to him, there will now be many more instruments that will facilitate capital development and project financing.

Ambrosini also pointed out that, at present, there are major problems with liquidity and market integration. "One of the problems is that the consumer in Germany is looking to buy electricity in Spain. But there is no way to transport that electricity on a long-term basis. But with the Commission's new conditions, different types of scenarios are going to be unlocked," he explained.

Finally, he pointed out that Europe is in a scenario where in ten years, renewable production will be substantial. But the question will be, how to sustain investments in a price environment with a very low spot price?

Roberto Leigh, Senior Director of Lazard, said that this is an interesting time for the market. "There have been many changes in different areas regarding solar projects. But we are already asking ourselves what is the most appropriate way to proceed. Financing has become more and more expensive and that has an impact on the kind of leverage projects have, but it also opens up a question of what should be the right way to get a return on these projects," Leigh said.

The Lazard Senior Director also wanted to consider markets such as Greece, Romania or Poland. Markets that, according to him, have become more dynamic. "The situation in Greece is very interesting because of the outlook for the country's replacement of fossil fuels with renewables," he added.

It was the current supply chain issue that closed the discussion. Lori Qin, Vice President Climate Infrastructure at BlackRock, argued that the situation is very different from a couple of years ago. "There used to be more EPC contracts, but now when you look at the tenders for your EPC you see very low engagement on contracts, for example, on the civil side," she explained.

But she defended that, even when the situation seems critical, follow-ups such as ESG Supply Chain Management are even more controlled. Asking a lot of questions about the measures and the development of the projects are, according to Qin, key points.
Finally, Leigh added that in the current market situation there is now much more concern about getting things right. For him, people are much more concerned about the details needed to get things right.