Qatar’s 800 MW tender draws world record solar power price of $0.01567/kWh

• Utility Kahramaa has revealed the winning consortium initially offered $0.01745/kWh with the price then reduced based on financial market indices.

The Qatar General Electricity and Water Corp (Kahramaa) has revealed the 800 MW solar tender concluded last week delivered a final price of QAR0.0571/kWh ($0.016/kWh) – the lowest winning bid ever registered in an auction for large scale renewable energy.

The utility said the winning consortium, formed by French oil giant Total and Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corp, had initially submitted a bid of QAR0.0636/kWh.

“Kahramaa has signed the power purchase agreement (PPA) with the project company, with an aim to achieve financial close of the project in May 2020,” said the utility. “Kahramaa is pleased to note that based on current financial market indices, the equivalent LEC [levelized energy cost] is QAR0.0571/kWh ($0.01567/kWh), which is one of the world’s lowest for projects of this type.”

If the utility’s five-decimal-point calculation is correct, the bid beats the previous world record of €0.0147/kWh ($0.016) submitted by French developer Akuo Energy for 150 MW of solar generation capacity in Portugal’s first PV auction. Saudi energy giant ACWA Power bid $0.0169/kWh in the tender for the fifth phase of the huge Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai.

The project tendered by Kahramaa will be 60% owned by the Siraj Energy joint venture formed by Qatar Petroleum and the utility, and 40% by the winning consortium. The facility will provide the Qatari utility with electricity under a 25-year PPA.