The tender is part of Portugal’s plans to push PV capacity from 572MW (2018) to 8.1GW-9.9GW (2030) (Credit: Flickr / Contando Estrelas) Portugal’s first-ever solar auction has sparked bidding volumes nine times the tender's size, the government has said as work begins to pick winners later this summer. Energy state secretary João Galamba took to social media this week to hail the 10GW worth of bids tabled for the 1.4GW PV tender, with 64 projects competing for 24 auction lots. Describing the results as “very encouraging”, Galamba commented: “The conditions for strong competition in the auction are thus created, which is excellent news for electricity consumers.” The 64 finalists are just a selection of the 300 the government said earlier this month had submitted interest in the tender, a deluge that forced to extend the bidding deadline by one week. Speaking to local media, Environment minister João Pedro Matos Fernandes explained the selection of winners should wrap up by 10 August. Bids, Matos said, will work downwards from a ceiling price of €45/MWh (US$50/MWh). The tabling of some 10 bids per lot creates expectations that final prices will be much lower, the minister added. The tender is part of Portugal’s campaign for a solar boom, with plans to push installed PV capacity from 572MW (2018) up to 1.6GW (2021) and 8.1GW-9.9GW (2030). As state secretary Galamba explained to PV Tech in March, the solar auction will be followed by a separate 50-100MW tender for energy storage, scheduled in principle for next year. The PV tender, Galamba said at the time, will accept bids under two modalities – with and without a fixed price – to cater to embryonic projects but also mature, PPA-successful schemes. The two-pronged design has so far drawn a mixed reaction, with some warning that allowing bids for grid capacity as the second modality will do could result in speculation. See here for the official website for Portugal's renewable auctions Tags: portugal, europe, western europe, southern europe, power auction, solar auction, solar tender, pv auction, pv tender, tenders and auctions
Portugal has drawn in 10 GW of bids for its first solar auction, almost 10 times the capacity of the 1.4 GW tender. The 64 projects vying for 24 auction lots are just the finalists of 300 submissions made earlier in the month as the country aims to increase solar capacity from 572 MW in 2018 to 1.6 GW in 2021 and 8.1-9.9 GW by 2030. In a bid that is expected to be finalised later this year, Portugal’s National Grid will sell electricity generated at two large offshore wind farms off the coast of Terceira Island – one with an installed Meanwhile, a separate 50-100 MW energy storage tender will follow in 2019.