Ecuador Unveils 500 MW RE Tender Plans

Ecuador To Tender Non-Conventional Renewable Energies Under Block I With 500 MW Capacity; Solar Allotted 120 MW, Wind 200 MW

Ecuador Unveils 500 MW RE Tender Plans

Having increased the capacity of its proposed ERNC Block I tender from 300 MW to 500 MW in July 2021, Ecuador has now announced the launch of competitive process to select renewable energy capacity. Pictured is a solar power plant in Ecuador. (Photo Credit: XavierCs/Shutterstock.com)

  • Ecuador has announced 3 tenders, including for renewable energies, expecting these to attract $1.86 billion in private investment
  • The 500 MW ERNC Block I tender round seeks to award 200 MW capacity to wind energy, 150 MW to hydroelectric, 120 MW to solar PV, and 30 MW to biomass projects
  • Renewable energy projects are expected to account for $875 million of private investment

The Government of Ecuador has officially unveiled its plans to launch public solicitation process for 500 MW renewable energy capacity as Non-Conventional Renewable Energies Block I (ERNC), also referred to as NCRE. Ecuador aims to install an additional 1.44 GW renewable energy capacity addition till 2031 under its Electricity Master Plan (see Ecuador Updates Electricity Master Plan Until 2031).

Of the total offered, the maximum capacity of 200 MW has been reserved for wind energy.

Solar PV technology gets 120 MW, with the minimum capacity of each project being 3 MW, and the maximum being 50 MW. Concessions to be awarded for solar power projects will be for 30 years. Winning projects will be expected to complete construction within 18 months duration.

Remaining capacity will be sought as 150 MW of hydroelectric facilities, and 30 MW of biomass.

Winning projects may be located in various provinces of the country, depending on grid connection facility available with the National Interconnected System (SNI), stated the Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources.

Details of the tender process to be conducted are available on a dedicated website.

The government expects this 500 MW capacity to attract private investment worth $875 million. Along with 2 other public selection processes unveiled for natural gas combined cycle block and Northeast Transmission System, the government pegs total private investment worth $1.86 billion.

According to the Ecuadorian government, the country has a potential to install and use 660 MW of solar PV capacity with Carchi, Pichincha, Cotopaxi, Manabí, Imbabura, Chimborazo, El Oro, Loja and Guayas provinces identified as the zones that do not present environmental or social limitations.

In July 2021, the Ecuadorian Energy Ministry scaled up the ERNC Block I capacity from 200 MW to 500 MW to ensure additional renewable energy supply to meet demand and back then the ministry had expected to reserve 350 MW for both solar and wind energy projects (see Ecuador Expands Renewable Energies Block To 500 MW).

Recently, BNamericas quoted Ecuador’s electricity company’s CEO Celec as saying that the country plans to launch a 500 MW tender on November 27, 2021 comprising 100 MW PV capacity (see Latin America PV Snippets: Ecuador, Wood Mackenzie, Natixis).

About The Author

Anu Bhambhani

SENIOR NEWS EDITOR Anu is our solar news whirlwind. At TaiyangNews, she covers everything that is of importance in the world of solar power. In the past 9 years that she has been associated with TaiyangNews, she has covered over thousands of stories, and analysis pieces on markets, technology, financials, and more on a daily basis. She also hosts TaiyangNews Conferences and Webinars. Prior to joining TaiyangNews, Anu reported on sustainability, management, and education for leading print dailies in India. [email protected]

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