The report covers six east and central European countries—Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Slovak Republic, and Bulgaria (ranked by their total energy consumption). Turkey is also covered since its market turned more recently very attractive to investors (even without a national action plan) due to official commitments for renewable energy and particularly with a sharply growing electricity market. The report also includes corporate news for firms such as Finland’s Fortum, Samsung, Filasa International, and China’s Lightway Solar.

In terms of business, Poland has been and remains the major market—followed by Romania. Investments continue in these two countries, even if regulatory instability put many projects on ice. Both countries saw rapid expansion of wind farms, an expansion that is likely to continue in Poland. Investments in Czech Republic and Bulgaria have lost ground (after solar investments euphoria) and the investors in both countries face tough regulatory adjustments. While in Czech Republic the problems are related to excessive support, in Bulgaria they are broader in nature and are amplified by the problematic functioning of the market. Slovak Republic witnessed a sharp expansion of small- and medium-sized solar projects, just like neighboring Czech Republic, and is currently trimming down support to avoid excessive expansion. Although Hungary is the slowest of the six countries to increase its renewable electricity production, it actually placed its bet from the very beginning on generating more heat from renewable resources in order to meet the overall green energy target.

The industry is currently at turning point regarding regulatory predictability versus flexibility. European national governments, including those in the six ECE countries, are at a critical point in regard to their renewable energy policies. They have reached the moment when they need to radically reshuffle their support schemas for renewable energy—schemas that were designed and enforced only several years earlier. Following major changes in the global and local economic environment—including weaker growth rates, tighter public budgets and technological progress in renewable industry—the support schemas became unnecessarily strong and particularly expensive for governments and/or end-users.

Key Points:

• In corporate news, Finland's Fortum has decided to suspend its further investments in the power sector in Poland until the legal framework is clarified.

• South Korea's Samsung has become the largest investor in Romania’s photovoltaic sector after completing a EUR 100mn (45MW) solar farm in the southern Giurgiu county.

• France’s Filasa International has confirmed in July 2013 its plans to resume works at a 519MW/EUR 780mn wind project in Romania's Suceava county.

• Chinese company Lightway Solar has decided to develop a 50MW photovoltaic park in Romania.

• While many critical issues are being currently tackled by policymakers, the progress toward an unified European policy for renewable energy is marginal. While the EC strives for internal energy market, the drive toward common policy in renewable energy support remains weak.