Russia allocates 520 MW of PV capacity in 2017 renewable energy auction

Russia’s Administrator of the Trading System has allocated approximately 520 MW of PV capacity in the latest auction for large-scale solar, wind and hydropower projects.

According to a document released by the Russian agency, the auction, which was expected to award contracts for projects with a combined capacity of 1.9 GW, has allocated overall 2.2 GW of renewable energy generation capacity, of which 1.65 GW for wind projects. In the auction’s pre-selection phase, about 625 MW of PV projects were submitted to the authority.

Meanwhile, the local press agency RNS has revealed all the solar project developers which were awarded contracts in the auction. The Russian power company T Plus secured contracts to build 70 MW in the regions of Orenburg (15 MW), Samara (30 MW), and Saratov (25 MW).

The company Green Energy Rus, a unit of Russian industrial group Renova, which is also the parent company of module maker Hevel Solar in joint venture with technology company Rusnano, was able to win contracts for 16 large-scale solar projects with a combined capacity of 300 MW. These projects will range in size from 15 MW to 25 MW and will be built across the whole Russian territory.

Furthermore, Russia-based solar module producer Silicon Technologies has secured contracts to build four PV plants totaling 80 MW across the Bashkiria and Volgograd regions. Yet, Avelar Solar Technology Company, which is a unit of Hevel Solar, has won the contracts to install 25 MW in the Bashkiria region and 50 MW in the Orenburg region.

PV parks that use local producers receive higher feed-in tariffs than projects with components that are fully manufactured abroad.

Up to 2024, Russia aims to install a solar capacity of 1.52 GW in its wholesale market. A further 1.18 GW is planned to be installed in the period 2024-2030. Prior to the 2017 auction round, four rounds of auctions were held between 2013 and 2016, and these have awarded a total of 2.06 GW of renewable energy capacity.

Russia had reached 540 MW of installed PV capacity at the end of last year. Of this, 60 MW was installed in 2015, while another 70 MW was connected to the grid in 2016. The remaining 400 MW comes from several PV plants located in Crimea, which were seized by local authorities after the region was annexed to Russia in 2014.