The European Commission’s EPTF Energy Policy Director, Cristina Lobillo, and Ximo Puig, President of the Generalitat Valenciana, have visited PVH’s facilities in Cheste. The visit to the factory was also attended by the MEP Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero, José Morell Roser, mayor of Cheste, and Marcos J. Lacruz, president of the technology cluster AVAESEN. Domingo Vegas, President of Gransolar and Emilio García, COO of PVH, led the tour, which passed through the pressing facilities and the plant with robotics machinery. The tour ended at the technology innovation center where PVH tests its products and upgrades on the field.

Renewable energies as an independent and sustainable energy model

This visit indicates the interest of the European institutions in promoting the development of renewable energies as a means of achieving energy self-sufficiency on the continent. PVH is one of the world leaders in photovoltaic solar energy and the number one supplier of solar trackers in markets such as Europe, the Middle East and Australia. With an annual production of close to 8 GW and 480 employees at its factory in Cheste, the company is an important driving force in the growth of the renewable energy industry in the Valencian Community, and is a benchmark in Spain’s role as a European power in sustainability at the forefront of the global energy transition.

Given the international relevance of the energy transition towards sustainable models, European authorities have focused on renewable energies as the best alternative to create an independent and reliable European energy system that ensures energy supply for all citizens.

PVH, a Gransolar Group company, employees around 700 people worldwide. In the last two years the company has doubled its turnover and currently leads the markets in Europe, the Middle East and Australia.

Considering the growth forecasts for 2023, and with the project to open a new factory in the United States, Domingo Vegas, president of Gransolar, described the PVH project as “an industry that is at the forefront in Spain and Europe”. Vegas emphasized that PVH has managed to create “a photovoltaic industry that does not depend on external agents; we are self-sufficient. For us this visit has been a very important boost to continue our activity, since we strive to continue growing and for this we need the support of the institutions and the authorities”.

Unconditional support from the Valencian government for renewables

Ximo Puig, president of the Generalitat Valenciana, reiterated after the visit the “unequivocally favorable” position of the Valencian government towards renewable energies. “We know that thanks to renewables we can maintain a state of welfare and future. Thanks to renewables we can, above all, fight climate change and be able to generate a green energy that makes fossil fuels increasingly dispensable,” said the president of the Generalitat Valenciana.

“In this situation, we cannot be neutral,” continued Puig. “Either we are in favor of renewable energies, or the consequence is that there are more fossil fuels. And at this time there is no possible choice. We must support renewables in all areas. And what is also fundamental is that it should come from our own industry. We should not seek to have energy sovereignty and not have industrial sovereignty”. Puig stressed that it is essential for the region to have companies like PVH that are leaders in their sector and that export the material and quality of Spain and the Valencian Community across the five continents.

PVH is planning an expansion of its facilities in Cheste with a tube factory, which will involve an investment in the region of more than 17 million euros.