Serbia approves premiums for two more projects from its first solar power auction

Two projects made it to the list of photovoltaic plants eligible for market premiums at the last minute, after they were disqualified from Serbia’s first solar power auction. The additional quota was approved after it submitted additional documents.

The commission responsible for Serbia’s first auction for premiums for electricity from photovoltaic units asked the Ministry of Mining and Energy to add two initially rejected projects. The bids of only two companies – Hiperion Sol and Terra Solar – were originally declared valid in the competitive bidding process, for three investments. They got the right to sign contracts for difference (CfDs) for a mere 11.6 MW out of an overall 50 MW available.

One of the disqualified participants provided proof that the accounts of its two project firms weren’t blocked for more than three days over the previous three years. The commission added both to the list, increasing the awarded part of the quota to 25.2 MW or 50.4% of the total.

With the revision, the approved part of of the 50 MW quota was more than doubled to 25.2 MW

The ranking now includes B2 Nova Sun and B2 Sunspot, photovoltaic units with connection capacities planned at 9.99 MW and 7 MW, respectively. Both sites are in Mokrin in Serbia’s far north.

The investor placed bids for 8 MW of B2 Nova Sun and for 5.6 MW for B2 Sunspot. Namely, participants were able to qualify between 70% and 100% of the capacity of any project for the CfD scheme. Both can now get 15-year power purchase contracts at EUR 89.7 per MWh. The lowest accepted price was EUR 88.65 per MWh.

No PV project that entered the auction process would have a connection capacity of 10 MW or more, at which point it would require a connection to the transmission system. The first wind power auction in Serbia was held at the same time.