From pv magazine LatAm
The Panamanian government has published its first Annual Electricity Sector Bidding Schedule, a planning tool that sets a calendar of five bidding processes between 2025 and 2028. The schedule organizes the integration of new generation technologies into the system starting in 2029 and includes a dedicated bidding process for solar photovoltaic technology in 2026.
The announcement came during the approval session for process 01-25, the first auction to be executed under the new schedule. Officials also outlined strategic guidelines, including 1,420 MW equivalent (MWEq) of firm energy and 1,335 MW of new installed capacity during the period. Energy Secretary Juan Manuel Urriola said the planning is designed to maintain a balanced distribution of technologies and avoid generation clustering in specific time slots.
Officials said the decision to reserve a separate bidding process for solar projects reflects technical considerations specific to the electricity system. A government statement explained that the photovoltaic sector, “despite its low cost,” was excluded from the first call for proposals, which are set for October. It aims to contract new wind and hydroelectric plants for up to 20 years to avoid supply concentrations during daytime hours.
Although the technology is not included in the 01-25 auction, officials said conditions have been set for its later inclusion, with the goal of allocating clearly defined participation windows. The 2026 auction will allow exclusively solar-powered bids in a competitive context tailored to their operational and investment characteristics.
The schedule sets July 2028 as the supply start date for contracted photovoltaic energy. The government said this gives bidders time to complete all phases of the development cycle, including studies, financing, construction, and grid integration.
Panama installed 143.39 MW of new PV capacity in 2024, according to the National Public Services Authority (ASEP). By the end of December 2024, the country’s total installed solar capacity reached 695.55 MW, accounting for 13.79% of national electricity generation capacity.
Total installed generation capacity in 2024 stood at 5,045.09 MW, including 2,165.97 MW from thermal power (42.93%), 1,847.57 MW from hydropower (36.62%), 336 MW from wind (6.66%), and the new PV capacity.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.