auctions and tenders

Solar PV bidders picked up around 2.2GW of capacity in Poland’s latest renewables auctions, the country’s Energy Regulatory Office (URE) has announced.

Spain’s PV sector has been boosted by a new auction mechanism that aims to support at least 10GW of capacity by 2025. José Donoso, general director of Spanish solar association UNEF, discusses what is driving growth and the various policies that the industry is asking for.

US power grid operator PJM Interconnection’s latest capacity auction for 2022/2023 saw 1,512MW of solar procured, up 942MW on its most recent auction in 2018.

Scatec will develop three projects in South Africa totalling 540MW of solar and 225MW / 1,140MWh of battery storage after being awarded preferred bidder status through a government tender.

Lightsource BP has said it won more than 40% of the total awarded capacity in Greece’s renewables auction last week through a co-development partnership, increasing its global presence to 14 countries.

Solar PV bidders picked up all the available 350MW of capacity in Greece’s latest renewables auction, which took place on 24 May and closed with lower prices than the country's previous tenders.

After receiving record-low prices in both its previous solar auctions, Portugal is now aiming to support the development of floating PV projects through its next tender process. Pedro Amaral Jorge, CEO of Portuguese renewable energy association APREN, talks to PV Tech about the prospects for the country’s solar sector.

Portugal will carry out its third solar auction this September, with 500MW of floating PV capacity set to be allocated.

Germany’s renewable energy sector has said new government plans to more than triple the PV capacity included in next year’s auctions do not go far enough in supporting long-term solar deployment.

While recent solar auctions in Spain and Portugal have made headlines with low prices and high levels of participation, the power purchase agreement market will be key to helping both countries reach their 2030 solar deployment targets, it was suggested during a panel discussion.