tender

The Swiss Federal Council intends to increase competition in the solar sector and set fixed tariffs for large PV projects using tenders. The electricity market will be fully opened up in a move industry association Swissolar says will discriminate against PV and threaten the rapid expansion of renewables.

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.

Saudi Arabia is expanding the reach of its 105 billion riyal (US$28 billion) industrial fund to spur renewables through loans to component manufacturers, to independent power projects and to projects spearheaded by firms in other industries.

France has marked progress with its programme to roll out solar in an area hosting its oldest nuclear plant, selecting its first batch of PV project winners.

A planned 10 MW solar project will be coupled with a storage system with a minimum capacity of 8 MWh. The facility will be near Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka.

The project, planned for Khovd in the west of the country, is being developed with the support of the World Bank.

Solar and wind projects selected in the company’s latest clean energy procurement exercise have been awarded a 19-year power purchase deal, starting from 2023. Cemig has now contracted green power from 780 MW of renewable project capacity in three tender rounds held since June last year.

The La Poste Group wants one or more green corporate PPAs, to be procured through a tender. The postal service wants to hedge against volatile energy prices.

Greece has opted to slightly trim the capacity on offer at the year’s last solar-only tender, setting ceiling prices that reflect the gradual technology cost decreases seen in the country.

The nation’s energy regulator today announced separate tenders for solar and wind generation capacity will be held on December 12.

The exercise will be open to PV projects ranging in size from 200 kW to 5 MW.

Enertis has stepped up its involvement with a solar project in the Middle East, said to be the world’s first utility-scale scheme to be wholly sponsored by an oil and gas major.

A 200 MW storage project is being developed by Hanwha Energy Corporation and Lumcloon Energy. The €300 million facility is intended to stabilize the grid to host more renewable energy capacity.

The Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe has issued a request for proposal to seek partners for the development and construction of seven solar parks, with a combined generation capacity of 235 MW, plus two mini-hydro power projects.

The Asian Development Bank-backed procurement round attracted 26 bidders for the 60 MW project, according to the development lender. The ADB says the low price secured will persuade neighboring governments to embrace auctions.