International PhotoVoltaic Investors Club

About IPVIC

International PhotoVoltaic Investors Club (IPVIC) is an association of international and domestic investors in photovoltaic energy active on the Czech market. Among the member companies are the German firm Voltaic Network GmbH, the German private investor Milos Schubert, the Luxembourg-based company Radiance Energy Holding, the Swiss firm Antaris Solar and the Czech company Ren Power. In May 2011, the number of IPVIC members reached 20 entities.

These investors have invested significant resources in the development of the photovoltaic sector in the Czech Republic. Their solar projects have the combined installed capacity of 140 MWp. That means, among other things, saving 164,000 tons of CO2 per year.

Regulatory changes

The companies associated in IPVIC are currently in discussions with the Czech government about the dramatic changes that the Czech Republic introduced to the legal and regulatory framework for the support for the solar sector in late 2010.

These changes included, among other things, an amendment to the Act on Promotion of Electricity Production from Renewable Sources, adopted on 14 December 2010 and effective as of 28 December 2010 / 1 January 2011, introducing a new levy on electricity generated from solar power plants put into operation in 2009 and 2010. The levy is imposed in the amount of 26% of the feed-in tariff (or, as the case may be, 28% of the Green Bonus), beginning on 1 January 2011.

Several companies associated in IPVIC have already sent letters to the Czech government, informing it that their investments have been adversely affected by this series of regulatory changes. The letters invite the government to offer constructive proposals for an amicable solution and also state that the investors are ready to defend their rights through international arbitration proceedings.

IPVIC representation

IPVIC has appointed the law firms Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP and Glatzova & Co. to represent them in the legal aspects of their discussions with the Czech state. Donath Business & Media (DBM) is the association’s public relations representative and publisher of this website.