El Salvador Awards Solar PV Project at 4.955¢ Per Kilowatt-Hour

El Salvador, a small Central American nation awards solar PV power projects at competitive tariffs rates

A small Central American country giving competition to a renewable energy giant like India in solar PV power tariff bids does not seem quite right, but this is indeed true in the case of El Salvador.

According to media reports, El Salvador allocated four solar PV power projects through competitive auction. These projects have a cumulative capacity of 120 megawatts and were awarded at tariff bids ranging from 4.955¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to 6.724¢/kWh. Successful project developers offered a 36% to 53% discount compared to the ceiling tariff of 10.53¢/kWh set by the government.

The lowest solar power tariff for a utility-scale solar PV power project in India stands at 6.40¢/kWh while for rooftop solar power projects it is 4.40¢/kWh, with subsidies.

The successful bidders- Tracia Network Corporation, Capella Solar, Sonsonate Energy, and Asocio Ecosolar will sign power purchase agreements of 20 years duration and will be required to commission the projects in 2019.

Interestingly, there was not much competition in the wind energy sector as a single 50 megawatt project was allocated at the ceiling tariff of 9.878¢/kWh.

Demand from wind energy projects seems to be waning in El Salvador as even during the last competitive auction no wind energy project was awarded, while 100 megawatts of solar PV power capacity was awarded to project developers.

Source: Cleantechies