Panama to launch 500MW renewables and energy storage auction

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
This is the first renewables auction in Central America to include energy storage. Image: Luis Gonzalez via Unsplash.

Panama’s national secretary of energy has launched its first bidding auction exclusively for renewables and energy storage.

The bidding process – held by the national secretary of energy and state-owned electricity transmission company, Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica SA (ETESA) – is seeking 500MW of capacity and will be held in the second quarter of 2024. Publication for the application will be released in February of this year.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Winning bidders will need to have projects operational by 1 September 2026, for existing renewable projects and new solar PV plants.

Offtake agreements will be done depending on three different schemes based on power for renewables (new or existing) backed up with energy storage, energy from new or existing renewable projects, or firm power coupled with energy.

Up to 40% of the capacity for the energy line could be allocated for existing projects, while both power and firm power capacity would have up to 65% for existing projects. These would be managed separately from new renewable projects.

New projects will have a 20-year power purchase agreement, while existing ones will have a duration of up to 10 years.

The inclusion of energy storage is a first in the Central America region, according to the Panama government, and would contribute to its goal of contributing 5% of the total demand capacity from the country by 2030 with energy storage.

Among the Central American states, Panama has become an attractive market for investors due to the country’s PV incentives put in place by the government as recently covered on PV Tech Premium.

The government’s resolution can be accessed here (in Spanish).

Read Next

October 7, 2025
Doral Renewables has secured a PPA with an unnamed 'corporate buyer' for its 430MW Cold Creek solar-plus-storage project in Texas.
September 30, 2025
SynergyRED, a wholly owned subsidiary of Synergy, has submitted a development application for a 2GW hybrid renewable energy project in Western Australia's Mid-West Region.
September 29, 2025
Burns & McDonnell examines the outlook of the utility-scale solar sector amidst the latest policy and tariff changes.
September 26, 2025
Residential solar and energy storage could meet all the projected demand from US data centres over the next five years if tech companies invest in household energy infrastructure.
September 26, 2025
Global grids have failed to keep pace with renewable energy technologies and have become the “bottleneck of the energy transition”, according to a new policy report from the Global Solar Council (GSC).
September 25, 2025
Developer ACE Power and Osaka Gas Energy Australia have submitted plans for a 100MW solar-plus-storage project to Australia’s EPBC Act.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK