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Four projects filled the 400 MW quota in Serbia’s first wind power auction while the competitive bidding for contracts for difference for solar power landed heavily undersubscribed. Just 11.6 MW was awarded out of 50 MW available.
On its new website that tracks the current renewable energy tender procedure, the Ministry of Mining and Energy said it would distribute the 400 MW quota among four out of eight wind projects with valid applications. The segment was oversubscribed by 29.8% while one other bid was disqualified. In the solar power auction, only 11.6 MW was awarded out of 50 MW available.
The lowest accepted bid for solar power came in much higher than for wind power
Both competitive bidding processes were the first of their kind in Serbia. The winners have the right to sign 15-year contracts for difference (CfDs) at the accepted price.
The price ceilings were EUR 105 per MWh for wind and EUR 90 per MWh for photovoltaics. However, with the low turnout, the lowest PV bid landed higher than the one for wind power: EUR 88.65 per MWh against EUR 64.48 per MWh!
Transmission connection list keeps growing but auctions still comes in thin
Of note, Serbian authorities and regulators have been fiercely debating whether the transmission system can integrate much more capacity from wind and solar power plants. 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.
Serbia’s transmission system operator Elektromreža Srbije (EMS) has a waiting list for 9.63 GW in wind power capacity and 11.4 GW for utility-scale photovoltaics. It compares to 8.7 GW and 10.3 GW, respectively, registered in late May. Two other projects in the pipeline, with 200 MW in total, are for a mix of wind and solar power.
PowerChina submitted lowest wind power bid
The winning bidders will have seven days to accept the awarded market premiums while all bidders have 30 days to launch a dispute.
The Vetrozelena project, of 291 MW, won the right to a market premium for the sales of output from 210 MW, at an accepted price of EUR 64.48 per MWh, the lowest in the wind power auction. Namely, participants were able to qualify between 70% and 100% of the capacity of any project for the CfD scheme.
PowerChina recently acquired a 51% share in the future Vetrozelena wind power plant from CWP Europe
PowerChina holds a 51% stake since a recent deal with CWP Europe. The project firm submitted a connection request for 300 MW for the site in Pančevo.
Next is Enlight K2-Wind’s Pupin project, for 68 MW offered out of an overall 95.5 MW, at EUR 68.88 per MWh. The facility is planned to be installed in Kovačica.
Čibuk 2, under development by a consortium led by Masdar, won the entire 108.5 MW that it offered from a project of an overall 150 MW, at EUR 73.7 per MWh. The remaining quota, 13.5 MW, was swept by domestic firm Crni vrh Power. It sought a contract with incentives for 105 MW out of 150 MW in total. It submitted a bid of EUR 79 per MWh.
MK Group and Fintel energija, a subsidiary of Fintel Energia Group from Italy, ended the race empty-handed as they bid EUR 84 per MWh for their four joint projects and one more didn’t meet the requirements for participation – Košava, planned at 47.5 MW. The same owner already operates a wind farm of the same name, with a capacity of 68 MW. For the second phase for Košava it submitted a request for a 68.4 MW connection.
Two companies win market premiums for their three small photovoltaic projects
As for solar power projects, Hiperion Sol submitted the lowest offer in the auction, EUR 88.65 per MWh, for an entire 4 MW facility. The only other participant that passed was Terra Solar, with two bids of EUR 89.8 per MWh each.
It applied for 6.4 MW out of 8 MW of its investment Lebane – Novo Selo, and for 1.2 MW out of 1.5 MW in the planned IMT Knjaževac endeavor. Four participants were disqualified.
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