Japan Concludes 18th Solar PV Energy Auction

• Japan's 18th solar energy auction was oversubscribed as more than 177 MW capacity was offered against 105 MW 
• The winning bids dropped significantly since the last round with the lowest going down to JPY 7.94/kWh vis-à-vis JPY 8.95/kWh 
• It has also announced plans to auction over 134 MW solar PV capacity in the 19th auction round 

The Organization for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators (OCCTO) in Japan has announced the results of the country's 18th solar energy auction, picking 33 bids to award 105 MW capacity. Winning tariffs for this round fell significantly since the previous auction. 

The lowest and highest winning bids were determined as JPY 7.94 ($0.054)/kWh and JPY 9.19 ($0.062)/kWh, while the weighted average winning bid was JPY 8.55 ($0.058)/kWh, against a ceiling tariff of JPY 9.35 (0.064)/kWh. 

In the 17th auction round, the lowest winning bid was JPY 8.95/kWh (see Japan Concludes 17th Solar Energy Auction). While the authorities do not give any reason for this oversubscription and winning tariffs going low, one of the factors could be the global drop in module prices. 

It was an oversubscribed auction round with 61 bids coming in for 177.75 MW capacity. Winning projects ranged from 250 kW to 500 kW system sizes and those exceeding 500 kW. Among the winners, the largest project is a 25.8 MW facility from Daiichi. 

This was the 3rd solar energy auction round in Japan this year after it announced the results of 16th and 17th auction rounds in July 2023 and August 2023, respectively. A list of the winning projects and their promoters is available on OCCTO's website.   

For the 19th solar auction, a total of 134.1018 MW capacity will be available for bidding.