The EU has hit its 2025 solar target but a surprise market contraction is now threatening the bloc’s 2030 ambitions.
New figures show the EU installed 65.1 GW of solar capacity in 2025, a 0.7% decline from the 65.6 GW added in 2024.
This marks the first year-on-year drop in installations since 2016. It comes at a time when acceleration is needed to meet the industry’s projected 750 GW target by 2030.
Despite the slowdown, the EU surpassed its mid-decade milestone. An estimated 406 GW of total solar capacity is now installed across the bloc, exceeding the EU Solar Strategy goal of 400 GW for 2025.
SolarPower Europe warns the market will continue to shrink in 2026 and 2027. Growth is expected to resume in 2028 and 2029, with installations returning to around 67 GW in 2030. In the most-likely scenario, the EU is projected to reach only 718 GW by 2030.
Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, said: “The number may seem small, but the symbolism is big. We hit our 2025 solar target, but now for the first time, our 2030 target is falling out of reach.”
The downturn is driven by a weakening residential solar segment. Rooftop systems accounted for 28% of new capacity in 2023 but only 14% in 2025 as support schemes declined and household energy price pressure eased.
Utility-scale farms now represent more than half of new installations. However, falling revenues caused by increasing negative pricing hours are challenging profitability.
Germany and Spain remained the EU’s largest solar markets. France overtook Italy for third place, while Romania and Bulgaria entered the top ten for the first time. The Netherlands fell to eighth as rooftop deployment slowed.
SolarPower Europe says EU policymakers must improve permitting, strengthen supply chains and adopt a comprehensive flexibility strategy to keep long-term solar goals within reach.
EU meets 2025 solar goal but market slowdown threatens 2030 target appeared first on Energy Live News.