The environment and energy ministry plans to stage two tenders – as pilot programs – in June for installation of photovoltaic facilities with a total capacity of 50 MW following a virtual standstill of investment activity in the sector for almost two years now.

One of the two tenders will concern larger PV systems. Although their scale has yet to be decided, this category will possibly apply for facilities of at least 2 MW, but consideration is also being given to a 1 MW level. The total capacity to be offered through tenders in this category will be set somewhere between 35 and 40 MW.

The second category concerning small PV systems is expected to range between 500 KW and 1 or 2 MW for a total of between 10 to 15 MW.

A price ceiling, or tender starting price, for tariffs will be set and bidders will be invited to submit offers declaring how much less they will be prepared to accept for every KWh of electricity production.

According to sources, the tender starting price will be set at a level of between 90 to 95 euros per MWh. At present, the tariff rate for new projects is 1.1 percent of the System Marginal Price (SMP), which works out to less than 50 euros per MWh. This level has acted as a disincentive for investment in the PV sector.

As for the roof-mounted PV system category, fixed feed-in-tariff prices continue to apply with the level at 110 euros per MWh.

The tender’s procedures will be the same as those included in the new support plan for the renewable energy (RES) sector prepared by the energy ministry and expected to be imminently forwarded as a finalized proposal to the country’s creditor representatives.

The tenders for PV installation will be staged independently yet concurrently with the new RES support plan. Existing legislation does not prohibit such a combination.

The results of June’s pilot tenders will determine any further action to be taken for the stagnant PV sector.