Demand for upcoming RES auction well under 600 MW offered

Wind and solar energy project investors are expected to seek far less than a 600 MW total capacity to be offered for installations at RES auctions on July 2, current data and forecasts strongly suggest.

The precise RES capacity total to be sought by investors at next month’s RES auctions, staged by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, will be known tomorrow, when the deadline for applications expires.

The subdued interest of RES investors is particularly substantial in the photovoltaic sub-category, representing 300 MW of the 600 MW total to be offered at the July 2 auction.

According to legislation designed to intensify the bidding process, capacities applied for will need to exceed auction capacities by 75 percent.

Currently available data suggests that a significant RES capacity amount will be left over. If so, this amount will be offered through a follow-up RES auction within the current year, according to sources. It is not linked to a combined wind-solar capacities auction also scheduled for 2018.

According to the initial RAE plan for the year, capacities of 300 MW will be made available to each of the wind and solar energy sub-categories in 2018, while the combined wind-solar auction will offer investors a further 400 MW.

The upcoming RES auction on July 2 will be divided into three sessions. One of these will concern photovoltaic installations with capacities less than 1 MW. Another will offer photovoltaic installations with capacities of between 1 and 20 MW. A third auction will cater to wind energy installations between 3 and 50 MW.