Whether we’re talking about the extraction of materials or the construction of components, reshoring – the phenomenon of bringing the various stages of production back home – will be crucial to the development of renewable energy in Europe. It will enable it to become independent from foreign countries and self-sufficient in the supply of raw materials.
Reshoring requires on-site expertise
Natural sources such as the wind and sunshine are not the only things renewable energy plants need, however. They also require technological expertise, efficiency in the production of key components, and the materials with which to build them. Today several of these factors are concentrated in areas of the world that are a long way from Europe. That is why investment in new solar power plants and wind power plants is being accompanied by a major reshoring effort: the transfer of the processing of materials and components “in house” or, in the case of nearshoring, relocation to a country that’s as close as possible to where the company is based.
Europe’s moves and the Critical Raw Materials Act
Renewables that mainly use critical raw materials such as lithium, nickel and silicon, tend to be found in Latin American countries such as Chile and Argentina, or else in Asia.
The European Union is moving to secure the supply of minerals that are essential for the green energy and digital supply chains. By 2030, the Critical Raw Materials Act, the proposed EU legislation that was unveiled in March 2023, aims to:
- Recycle and recover at least 15% of critical raw materials
- Extract at least 10% of them from European mines
- Bring at least 40% of the processing of critical raw materials back to Europe
In this way, by 2030, no more than 65% of the annual consumption of each strategic raw material in each processing stage should come from a single third country.
The EU’s technology goals
Self-sufficiency in raw materials is the prerequisite for creating technology autonomy.
In 2023, the EU unveiled the ‘Net Zero Industry Act’ (NZIA) program, which aims to strengthen the European production capacity of renewable technologies and make it more competitive.
Enel Green Power’s Gigafactory 3Sunin Catania, Italy, is also moving in this direction. When it becomes fully operational, it will produce 3 GW per year of solar panels. It will initially develop double-sided photovoltaic modules based on HJT technology, and will subsequently use Tandem technology to produce even more efficient and competitive PV cells. Large-scale production facilities like 3Sun are key to triggering the economies of scale that are needed to make the European supply chain sustainable. It’s an excellent example of reshoring!
