BULGARIA IS CITED AS EUROPEAN LEADER

The b2b Forum in Bulgaria will focus on Europe's solar PV market trends.

Two reports examining Europe’s solar PV market have been released for 2011. They indicated slowing growth in the flagship countries, whilst also promising growth in Europe’s smaller regions for 2012 and beyond.

New grid-connected PV capacity worldwide in 2011 rose by 67 percent to nearly 28 gigawatts (GW). Nearly 21GW of that was seen in Europe, which was up 57 percent from 2010's 13.3GW, as indicated by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA). Bulgaria ranks in 9th place with 80MW, establishing itself as a country with a small but growing PV capacity.

Solarbuzz, a leading global market research and consulting firm,expects a 10% growth in energy demand from PV in the first quarter of 2012. This will mainly be seen in Belgium, France, Spain and Greece. The study also suggests the strongest growth is to be expected in Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Romania. Such growth in all countries will be triggered by two factors: reduced incentive tariffs (and less public funding needed to build out individual markets), and the markets approach to ‘”grid parity” resulting in a decreased investor on public funding.

In light of these global changes, the South-East European b2b Forum will present it’s targeted audience with the latest renewable energy technologies. Organized by Via Expo, the event will comprise both the SEE Solar Exhibition and EE & RES Congress & Exhibition. Securing its reputation as one of the most prominent events within the Region, the event will gather together key industry decision-makers over the period 28-30 March 2012 in Sofia, Bulgaria. 

50% of the exhibition area will be dedicated to leading companies from Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, China, Czech Republic, Greece, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden and the UK. Puttingon display a wide variety of solar, wind, hydro, bio energy systems, the exhibitors will showcase cutting edge energy efficiency solutions.

Exclusively to the event – a model solar airplane ‘Solar Impulse’ will be showcased by Solvay Bulgaria. Able to fly both day and night, without dependence on fuel or release of emissions, the ‘Solar Impulse’ is the first aircraft of its type in the world.  

Renowned speakers from 18 countries will discuss good practices related to EE & Renewables financing, energy efficiency, biomass resources, bioenergy and waste-to-energy.

As a new feature to the 2012 program, pvXchange will host the forum ‘Photovoltaics - an Industry at the Crossroads’. This forum will explore the European market, opportunities and risks specific to the sector.

Brochure

www.viaexpo.com