Tenders / Auctions (Tenders for Solar PV systems)

DL 76/2019

To reach the energy generation and efficiency goals set in the NECP 2030 more cost-effectively, the Portuguese government implemented a system of tenders, more specifically for the solar sector, in which producers may participate in order to be granted installed capacity in the grid and a fixed price for a period of time, according to the rules and procedures established by tender regulation.

Installed capacity

Sliding feed-in premium (also called Contracts for Difference – CfD)
Participants bid for a percentage discount of a given tariff to receive a two-sided sliding feed-in premium (CfD) for 15 years

Developers of solar power plants.

Producers have to pay a security deposit (usually 10,000 EUR/MW) to the Directorate-General of Energy and Geology (DGEG) by the time they register themselves. This amount will be given back to them if: i) they are awarded an allotment in the procedure; ii) the electronic tender gets cancelled; or iii) they end up not being awarded any allotment.
Winning bidders shall pay a final, non-refundable deposit of EUR 60,000/MW. Only then they will be granted a capacity reserve title corresponding to the allotment and installed capacity that they applied for.
(Information obtained from Portugal’s latest solar tender procedure and from the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association’s article on solar tenders).

Directorate-General of Energy and Geology (DGEG).