Turkey Announces 302 MW Solar PV Tender For April

The country of Turkey will be holding a solar tender for 302 megawatts (MW) of new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity at the end of April (28, 29, and 30) — as recently revealed by the country’s Electricity Transmission Company (TEIAS).

This tender is part of the country’s previously revealed (back in 2013) inaugural push for 600 MW of solar PV capacity. As part of that push, TEIAS recently (back on January 29 + 30) tendered a total cumulative solar PV capacity of 228 MW — split amongst projects all greater than 1 MW in nameplate generating capacity.

Considering that developers have previously submitted applications totaling around 8.9 gigawatts (GW) of total generating capacity, the news is quite significant — many of these applications have been in limbo for quite some time.

The winners of the January bids are still waiting on approval from the country’s energy watchdog (the EPDK) before final development licenses are granted — a preliminary license is what is won during the tender process. So, despite winning bids back in January, most developers are still working their way through various forms of bureaucracy before actually beginning development. Considering this, the winners of the upcoming tender at the end of April probably won’t be beginning actual project development and construction anytime soon.

The two projects that won the first preliminary licenses in the country — a 5 MW and a 8 MW in the Erzurum and Elazig regions — seem like good examples of what can be expected. Preliminary licenses were granted back in May 2014, but final licenses weren’t granted until December — roughly half a year later.

Winning bids will all receive the same feed-in-tariff rate of $0.133 per kilowatt-hour for 10 years, as well as 5-year premiums for components manufactured in Turkey.

Related:

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Turkey Aiming For 5 Gigawatts Of Solar By 2023

Image Credit: Public Domain