Panama has unveiled a new renewable energy procurement round for short-term power supply
Out of the 2 categories, one relates to the energy contracts in which solar PV is among the renewable energy technologies participating
The tender process is to complete by December 10, 2024, and power supply to start from March 1, 2025
The National Energy Secretariat of Panama has launched a new renewable energy procurement round with an aim to protect the users from sudden electricity rate hikes. This short-term power and energy procurement tender is to ensure electricity supply for the period 2025 to 2030.
The Secretariat issued Resolution MIPRE-2024-0033084 on October 9, 2024, with a view to ensure a ‘quick and effective response,’ protecting consumers from unexpected rate increases, and ensuring the continuity of the electric service in the coming years.
This resolution establishes requirements for both power and energy contracts to ensure there is no over-contracting that could be passed on to the consumers through their electricity bills.
There are 2 categories for power generators to compete in, one related only to power contracts, meaning supply from projects that are ready for energy dispatch or in commercial operation. This category is irrespective of the power generation technology used.
The other category is for energy contracts for which only renewable energy technologies, namely hydropower, wind, solar and biomass can participate. These must be in test status available for dispatch or in commercial operation at the time of the publication of the resolution.
Power supply from the selected projects must begin from March 1, 2025. The contracts will be valid for a duration of 60 months. Winning projects will be accepted on the basis of the lowest possible price offered.
The volume of power to be contracted and the maximum tariff levels are mentioned in the resolution, available on the Secretariat’s website. The bidding process must be completed by December 10, 2024.
This follows the country’s January 2024 call for 500 MW renewable energy capacity as its maiden auction in this space (see Panama Announces 500 MW Renewable Energy Tender).
In its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) submitted in June 2024, Panama has committed to installing at least 1.7 GW of renewable energy through distributed generation capacity by 2030, scaling it up to 950 MW by 2027. At the end of 2023, the country had installed around 570 MW of solar PV capacity, according to International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).