Featured in The two sides of Australia's solar success – 10-2019

Australia’s move toward merchant solar

While significant module price declines will likely make selling power on the spot market a new reality, making merchant solar stack up is not an easy job. In Australia, the number of merchant PV projects is rising, but wild swings in wholesale power prices, which are increasingly hitting zero or below, have raised eyebrows recently. What are the reasons behind this trend and where is the market heading?

By

Marija Maisch

21 Oct 2019

A PV plant built with Risen modules. | Image: Risen Energy

Long notorious for its risk profile, merchant solar is certainly not to everyone’s taste. Predictable cash flows under long-term contracts make a perfect bedfellow for solar as a resource, but the length of power purchase agreements (PPAs) has been shortening in a number of markets, leaving lengthy merchant tails behind. Meanwhile, tempted by the expected …

This article is part of pv+

Subscribe digitally to unlock exclusive investigative reporting, expert insights, in-depth analysis, and premium background coverage. Your subscription also includes full access to the digital edition of our magazine.