CYPRUS: 23 PV licenses through reverse bids

A significant saving of 43.76% on the production cost of electricity generation was achieved through the completion of the reverse bid electronic auction for photovoltaic licenses, held last week under the initiative of the Energy Service of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and conducted by the Accountant General of the Republic.
Announcing the results, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis said that 15 energy production projects were selected for up to 1.5 megawatts (MW), 5 projects for 1.5 to 3.0 MW, 2 projects for 3.0 to 5.0 MW and one project for the production of 5.0 to 10MW. These projects concern photovoltaic systems with a combined capacity of 50MW with an annual output of 80 gigawatt hours (GWh), which will be added to the current electricity production from renewable sources of energy.
Industry analysts, however, explained that the process made it very expensive for bidders to be able to return a profit and shed some doubt over the eligibility of some bidders and their intentions.
“We have ensured that this success will be implemented with the lowest possible cost for the public, since the average current cost of electricity production with conventional fuels amounts to 15.4 cents per kilowatt hour (KWh), while the average price of today’s electronic auction amounts to only 8.66 cents per KWh, which corresponds to a saving of 43.76%,” Sylikiotis said, adding that the difference will be deposited with RSE fund which will enhance the viability of the fund, whose income is collected from consumers via their EAC bills.
He added that the process attracted great interest, as the number of bidders for the four electronic auctions came to 121 for a total of 2,150 bids.
Sylikiotis said that with the conclusion of this auction process and the awarding of these contracts over the next few months, “we will have investments worth millions, because for these to be implemented tens of millions of euros have to be spent which is quite important in this period of economic crisis and recession.”