According to the latest research report released by a British photovoltaic market research team, the British photovoltaic industry will add 1.7GW of photovoltaic systems in 2023 and will continue to develop rapidly after the end of government subsidies, including feed-in tariffs (FiT). and Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs).
Since the end of these subsidies in 2018, the size of the UK PV market has continued to grow every year.
As the research team has predicted over the past few years, growth in installed capacity will mainly come from large-scale photovoltaic power stations as investors begin construction of photovoltaic projects, which will have a significant impact on the contribution of photovoltaic systems to the UK's overall energy mix.
The UK’s new installed photovoltaic system capacity in 2023 will be announced in a few months. The error range of the currently quoted 1.7GW data is set at -5% to +10%. The condition for its growth is that several large-scale photovoltaic power stations (above 50MW) will be built this year, some of which may be postponed to 2024.
The UK will add 1.7GW of photovoltaic systems in 2023, an increase of 33% compared with the same period in 2022. Residential photovoltaics and ground-mounted photovoltaic power stations are the main parts driving the growth of its installed capacity. The UK residential photovoltaic market has grown rapidly since the introduction of feed-in tariff subsidies (fit) in 2010, when electricity prices were 43p/kWh.
Figure 1 The UK PV industry has experienced five years of growth since the end of Feed-in Tariff (FiT) and Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC) incentives in 2018
Ground-mounted PV system capacity accounts for the largest share of new PV system installations in the UK. And, like the construction of most large-scale photovoltaic power plants before it, much of it is done in stealth mode. This is likely because with a year to go until the UK general election, local government positions are firmly centered on the prospects for re-election.
In addition, despite the continuous growth of photovoltaic power generation, it is still regarded as a hot potato by the main political parties in the UK.
The 1.7G photovoltaic systems expected to be installed in 2023 will bring the cumulative installed photovoltaic system capacity in the UK to 17.6GW. About 60% of this comes from large photovoltaic power plants. At some point in the future, installing photovoltaic systems will be appreciated. Perhaps some politicians in the UK who support photovoltaic development (whether it is rooftop photovoltaics or photovoltaic power stations) are biding their time.
The research team predicts that installed photovoltaic systems in the UK will break the 3GW mark in 2024. The UK's PV industry is currently in Contract for Difference (CfD) construction mode, and the first batch of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) will also begin to increase grid capacity. Due to these factors, the UK photovoltaic market will have a lot of room for growth.
At the same time, the installed capacity of PV systems planned to be installed in the UK will continue to grow. The total installed capacity of photovoltaic systems currently planned to be installed far exceeds 100GW, including those currently being installed.