Germany's Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) is currently working on new regulations that would open up its solar PV tenders to neighboring European Union countries.
The BMWi's Ordinance for Competitive Bidding for Financial Support of Freestanding Installations would meet the requirements of the European Commission, ensuring that from 2017, 5% of solar PV tenders a year will be reserved for installations located in other European countries.
The new regulation is to be enacted by the middle of this year. The ministry will shortly release an official outline, which is expected to arrange the opening of PV pilot tenders. According to the plan, two tenders with two partner countries are to be launched this year. The final arrangements, however, have yet to be discussed with the partner countries, the BMWi says on its website.
Denmark is one of the possible partner countries. This year the Danish Energy Agency is opening a pilot tender for 20 MW solar PV installations, where up to 2.4 MW can be reserved for German solar farms. The agency hosts a consultation on the draft conditions for a pilot tender and encourages German stakeholders to participate in the meeting, the BMWi states.
According to the Danish Energy Agency, the consultation will take place on March 10 in Copenhagen. The agency is accepting comments and questions to the draft conditions for the tender until March 16 and will publish the final requirements thereafter. Financing of the new PV installations will start early next year.
The BMWi announced at the end of the last year that German PV tenders could be opened for installations from other countries under three conditions: First, countries have to meet an agreement in terms of cooperation mechanisms set by the European Unions Renewable Energy Directive. Secondly, the cooperation has to be mutual. Finally, this partnership has to be beneficial for the German energy sector, which means, it has to include energy import.
The second possible partner country in this years solar PV tender is yet to be announced.
Translated by Adilya Zaripova
Link to the original article on pv-magazine.de
Read more on the first three German pilot tenders in 2015 and the new legislation for renewable energy sector in the March issue pv magazine Deutschland (in German).
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