South Korea allocates 2.2 GW in PV tender, final average price comes in at $0.119/kWh

The South Korean Energy Agency has announced the results of the second solar tender planned for 2021.

The agency revealed it allocated all the 2,203 MW it planned to assign through the procurement exercise, and that the final average price was KRW143.120 per kWh ($0.119.6), which was higher by KRW7 compared to that of the previous tender of the same kind, in which 2,050 MW was allocated.

PV projects ranging in size from 500 kW to 3 MW had the largest share of assigned capacity, by securing around 860 MW, followed by installations with output between 100 and 500 kW, which secured around 400 MW. Another 245 MW was allocated for PV systems with a capacity below 100 kW, and about 700 MW was assigned to solar parks over 3 MW.

The final average price for projects below 100 kW was KRW154.411, and for projects between 100 and 500 kW, KRW139.412. Installations with a capacity between 500 kW and 3 MW reached an average price of KRW141.464, and KRW139.742 was the price for projects over 3 MW.

Overall, 5,393 projects were selected by the agency. The PV system owners will be granted the fixed rate over a 20-year period.

The exercise is the second of the two PV tenders planned for this year. There are currently no domestic content requirements embedded in the tender but, starting from this year, projects relying on solar PV modules with a low carbon footprint are being prioritized.

In the two tenders held in 2020, the KEA allocated 1.2 GW and 1.41 GW while in 2019, it contracted 350 MW and 500 MW. In 2017 and 2018, total allocated capacity was 600 MW in each year. Overall, South Korea‘s authorities should tender 4 GW of solar this year.

The country reached an installed solar power capacity of around 15.6 GW as of the end of December 2020. The newly installed PV capacity for 2020 was around 4.1 GW.

South Korea currently plans to install 30.8 GW of solar by 2030.