An Asian consortium involving China-based PV manufacturer JinkoSolar and Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation has submitted the lowest ever bid for solar PV capacity, at just US$0.0242/kWh for the planned 350 MW solar plant in Sweihan, in the United Arab Emirates.
The bid is 17% lower than the current lowest tariff for PV capacity to date, which stands at US$0.0.0291/kWh and was won by Solarpack in Chile in August.
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The Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) received six bids in its tender for 350MW of capacity in the Sweihan Solar Park. It said the bids are now “subject to the advisors’ further review and verification over the next few weeks of the due diligence process which may result in changes”.
The bidders announced by ADWEA were:
| Developer | bid (US$/kWh) |
|---|---|
| Marubeni/JinkoSolar | 0.0242 |
| Masdar | 0.02533 |
| Tenaga/Phelan Energy | 0.02598 |
| RWE/B-Electric | 0.02919 |
| JGC/First Solar/Sojitz | 0.03088 |
| Kepco/Q CELLS/GSE | 0.03635 |
Under the proposed terms of the Sweihan solar project, successful developers will own up to 40% of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and participate in its development. The remaining equity will be held by ADWEA.
ADWEA did not cite an unusual bid from the Marubeni and JinkoSolar consortium, but local news outlet The National said the two firms had also offered to expand the solar park to 1,170MW capacity, with an even lower tariff of just US$0.0230/kWh.
