Masdar

Masdar on Thursday announced that it has signed an agreement with Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Energy to develop and finance a 200-megawatt utility scale solar photovoltaic (PV) project.

The primary venture being organized under the joint enhancement understanding (JDA) is a 200MW utility-scale sun oriented photovoltaic (PV) plant in the west Armenia.

The offer was apparently submitted by Saudi energy giant ACWA Power, which refused to confirm the bid when asked by pv magazine. The second lowest bid – $0.0175/kWh – was reportedly submitted by a consortium formed by Emirati developer Masdar, French utility EDF and Chinese PV panel maker JinkoSolar.

Uzbek utility Uzbekenergo had received 23 offers for the 100 MW tendered solar plant. Two more solar tenders, with capacities of 400 MW and 500 MW, respectively, will be launched in the near future.

The government was forced to hold a tender for the 200 MW Cirata Dam scheme after originally awarding the deal to UAE developer Masdar. With August 19 named as the date to announce the auction results, nobody is any the wiser as yet.

The Armenian solar market has been somewhat slow to take off, but it could be experiencing a serious push, following an announcement that Abu Dhabi-based energy company Masdar plans to deploy 500 MW of solar and wind capacity in the country.