Italy’s second renewables auction secures lowest price of €0.056/kWh
The utility scale renewable energy tender saw wind prevail again, with 18 projects with a total generation capacity of 406 MW. Solar secured four projects with a combined capacity of 19.3 MW but did offer the lowest bid.
Italian energy agency the Gestore dei Servizi Energetici allocated 425.3 MW of clean power generation capacity in a second national auction for renewables with a capacity of more than 1 MW.
The exercise, which attracted bids for 587.5 MW of project capacity, was under-subscribed as the government had hoped to assign 500 MW of power plants.
Wind power again dominated, with 18 projects allocated, for total generation capacity of 406 MW. The 19.3 MW of solar capacity was allocated across four projects.
Cheap power
It was a 5.7 MW solar project in the Sardinian province of Nuoro, however, which lodged the lowest renewable energy price, of €56/MWh in an exercise which had a €70/MWh price ceiling. Developer Trisol 81 Srl’s bid of €52/MWh for the same facility was passed over in the earlier renewables auction round, held in late January.
Solar also set competitive tariffs of €65.012/MWh and €64.009 for PV projects in the northern province of Vercelli which will have generation capacities of 5.4 MW and 4.3 MW, respectively. The other successful solar facility, a 3.9 MW scheme in the central Italian province of Latina, will sell its solar electricity for €66.31/MWh.
In terms of wind power prices, the lowest agreed was €56.903/MWh for a 37.9 MW project in the southern province of Benevento. At the other end of the scale, a 12.6 MW wind farm in the southern province of Foggia will receive €68.397 per megawatt-hour generated.
Slight improvement
Solar projects at least showed an improved return on the January round of the tender, when just one, 5 MW solar plant ended up rubbing shoulders with 495 MW of wind facilities. That solar project will sell power for €60/MWh – a 14.29% discount on the price ceiling set.
The tenders, which exclude projects on agricultural land, are part of an auction scheme launched by the government last June. Italy, which has around 20.9 GW of solar capacity, is planning to install around 50 GW by 2030.