Belgium becomes a GW solar market

The central European country had its best year in terms of new PV deployment in 2020 with around 1,010 MW of installed capacity. Its cumulative solar capacity surpassed 6 GW at the end of December.

Most of Belgium's PV capacity is represented by rooftop arrays.

Image: Apere

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From pv magazine France

Belgium crossed for the first time the 1 GW threshold in terms of new PV deployment last year, according to new figures released by the Belgian trade body Promotion des Energies Renouvelables (APERe).

In 2020, PV systems with a combined capacity of 1,010 MW were installed in the country, of which 800 MW in the Dutch-speaking macro-region of Flanders, 150 MW in the French-speaking region of Wallonia, and 50 MW in the Brussels Metropolitan Region.

For comparison, the newly installed PV capacity for 2019 and 2018 was 544 and 367 MW, respectively.

 

 Image: APERe

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Flanders and the Brussels Metropolitan Region saw a significant increase in new installations this year, while Wallonia registered a considerable decrease. This slowdown can be explained in particular by a 60% drop in large installations of 250 to 750 kW and an 85% collapse in very large installations of over 750 kW.

In Flanders, there was a 45% increase in residential installations, following the effect of the announcement of the 15-year grace period granted to PV systems owners under net metering to avoid the installation of a smart meter. The grace period, however, was invalidated by a decision of the constitutional court in January.

Small installations not exceeding 10 kW in size represent 60 to 65% of the installed capacity in Belgium, while arrays ranging from 10 to 250 kWp represent 10%. Installations that are smaller than 10 kW or larger than 250 kW represent 2%, respectively.

 

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