Portugal’s Solar Auction Heavily Oversubscribed

• Portugal's solar energy auction has received a very positive response from domestic and international players
• According to Reuters, against the original capacity of 1.4 GW the government has received interest for over 10 GW of solar under the auction
• 64 companies, mostly international, will compete with each other to secure their place in Portugal's solar market
• The government is looking at announcing final winners around August 10, 2019

More than 10 GW of new capacity has been offered by companies interested in the development of solar power projects in Portugal during the country's solar energy auction. Tha means the auction was oversubscribed by a factor 7.

The original capacity offering went through several changes from 1.7 GW to finally 1.4 GW. Earlier in June 2019, the government said it received interest from about 300 investors and decided to extend the deadline for the mega auction to July 7, reported Reuters.

Portugal finally had 64 companies competing to win a share of the pie. As the Environment and Energy Transition Minister Joao Pedro Matos Fernandes said investors had offered over 10 GW of new capacity. Most of the interested investors are foreign companies. The final winners will be announced on August 10, 2019.

"Out of 24 locations to install solar panels, only one found no bids, and one had an instant winner, while 22 licenses will require auctions where bidders offering the largest discount off the energy tariff will win," Reuters reported.

The government expects an investment of up to €1 billion ($1.12 billion).