Greek tender awards 143 MW of PV at €0.06195/kWh

Greece’s latest renewables tender procured 142.88 MW of new solar generation capacity, dispersed among 23 projects, plus nine wind farms with a total capacity of 179.55 MW.

Some 143.04 MW, across 23 facilities, was allocated in the section of the tender devoted to PV projects with a capacity of up to 20 MW. That segment of the procurement exercise had attracted 68 project bids with an aggregate 200.26 MW of generation capacity and the final figure awarded was settled because of a Greek competition requirement all tenders be oversubscribed by at least 40%.

Tariffs

According to data published yesterday by Greek energy regulator the RAE, the lowest tariff awarded in Monday’s PV auction was €0.06195/kWh with the rest of the successful solar bids offering up to €0.0677/kWh.

The RAE figures indicate the average PV tender tariff was €0.06278/kWh, a solar electricity price 9.37% lower than the tender’s starting level of €0.06926/kWh and the latest average price is significant as it sets the starting level of the next tender.

Monday’s wind power tender secured an average tariff of €0.06732/kWh.

Bidding strategy

The lowest tariff for a PV project in this week’s auction was tendered by Greek developer Spes Solaris-Solar Concept, for five solar plants in Thiva which would appear to comprise a single, 51.496 MW solar farm broken down into separate bids offering the same tariff. 

Spes Solaris Τria AE – a different entity – appears to have followed the same piecemeal tender approach and secured €0.06295/kWh for two projects which will make up a 12.212 MW solar farm in Amfiklia.

pv magazine understands breaking down projects into separate blocks has become an established strategy in Greek tenders. In April, for example, Germany’s Juwi Group won three contracts comprising a single 204 MW solar farm.

The practice has a tendency to obscure the scale of the facilities procured and it is unclear as yet what effect such an approach is having on solar electricity tariff levels.

Investors

Spes Solaris-Solar Concept, which had secured around 107 MW of solar capacity in April’s PV and wind tender, claimed eight projects in Monday’s PV tender, more than any of its rivals. The dominant bidder, along with Spes Solaris Τria AE, had qualified to participate in the PV procurement round held in December too but ultimately declined to bid. The RAE subsequently cancelled that large scale project tender, citing a lack of competitiveness.

The biggest problem dogging Greek tenders, however, remains a lack of projects with the necessary licenses to make them eligible for auctions.

As a result, procurement rounds tend to secure less generation capacity than intended. The initial goal for Monday’s exercise, for example, was to procure 300 MW of PV capacity. However, given only 200 MW of projects held the necessary licenses to participate, only 143 MW of capacity was secured.

pv magazine believes investors are seeking licenses for PV projects with a total generation capacity of more than 6 GW in the country. The faster Greece processes those applications, to qualify more bidders for the tenders, the faster electricity tariffs will fall.

Greece aims to tender an additional 287 MW of PV capacity this year.