The Portuguese Minister for Environment and Energy Transition Joao Matos Fernandes has announced the country will launch its first large-scale auction for solar power offering 1,750 MW in June or July 2019. Speaking to Reuters, he said the focus areas for this capacity development will be south Algarve and north Alentejo regions with very high solar irradiation.
In March or April 2019, the terms of the auction will be published. Once awarded, it will be expected to come online over the next 2 or 3 years.
Fernandes said under the auction small scale project developers will be awarded a fixed guaranteed price for power generated from their systems, while bigger players with easily available financing will be allocated market electricity prices.
Previously, media outlets had reported the government plans to auction solar energy capacity in Q2/2019 and that it was waiting for the Parliament to approve the introduction of an auction system (see Portugal To Hold Solar Auction In Q2/2019).
So far, Portugal has been developing solar power capacity by awarding licences to unsubsidized projects, and out of some 1.2 GW licensed, only 49 MW has been installed. For the auction system, Fernandes said his government would want to take into account opinions of 'may foreign investors who are very interested in taking part'.
By 2030, the country aim to install between 8.1 GW to 9.9 GW of solar power capacity, said Reuters.