1.9 GW of solar PV wins PJM capacity auction contract

• United States power grid operator PJM Interconnection's latest capacity auction for 2023/2024 saw 1,868 MW of solar PV procured, up 25% from the previous auction.

The local transmission organisation stated the most recent auction had a reduced cost for all resources than in 2015 with US$ 34.13/ MW per day versus a cost of US$ 50/MW per day in secured in June 2021.

The fall in rates this year was the outcome of a much less restrictive minimum offer price regulation for seven resources representing 76MW, a reduced market seller use cap, less time to attach the projects (one year rather than three) as well as the application of an effective load bring capability (ELCC) technique to establish the capacity of solar, wind and storage space resources, according to PJM.

Furthermore, the most recent auction saw a growth of greater than 5GW of gotten rid of carbon-free sources led by 5.3 GW of existing nuclear that had actually unclear via in the previous auction. At the same time, wind energy lowered 434MW from the previous auction for a total amount of 1,294 MW and also was caused by a decline of wind projects throughout the auction itself.

This year's auction procured 144,871 MW of overall sources through of 1 June 2023 until 31 May 2024, almost level contrasted to the previous auction, at a complete expense of US$ 2.2 billion, down US$ 1.8 billion from 2022/2023.

Manu Asthana, president and also chief executive officer at PJM Interconnection, said: "In combination with our other markets, the capacity market remains a central component in drawing in a varied, reputable and competitive resource mix to meet forecasted system need."

While the auctions are held 3 years in advance of the distribution year, the 2023/2024 auction was originally scheduled to be held in May 2020 but was held off till the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) considered the approval of new capacity market guidelines.

After holding the last two capacity auctions just a year prior to its shipment year and a judgment in October 2021 from FERC, PJM will finally return to a three-year-forward basis with the 2024/2025 shipment year, which will certainly occur in December 2022.

The PJM capacity auction acquires power supply sources ahead of the delivery year to meet electricity demands in its service location, which includes all or part of 13 states as well as the District of Columbia.

Earlier this year, the power grid operator had actually made progress in clearing its renewables stockpile of projects that included greater than 136GW of solar capacity.