Global auctions place 3.35 GW of wind capacity in Q1 2020 - GWEC

Auctions and tenders across the world awarded 3.35 GW of wind power capacity in the first quarter of 2020, Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) said.

Of the total capacity, 2.1 GW was auctioned in Europe and 1.2 GW in Asia.

The placed capacity falls below the almost 5 GW of wind auctioned in the same period in 2019, mainly due to the spread of the coronavirus disease COVID-19.

The global COVID-19 crisis held off scheduled auctions in markets such as Brazil, China and the US for offshore wind, but did not stop many established and some emerging wind markets to proceed as planned.

India auctioned 1.2 GW of renewable hybrids that include both storage and capacity, GWEC’s summary shows. On March 7, the country announced a tender for another 2 GW of wind power and will remove tariff caps from the auction to boost investment.

In Europe, successful rounds were carried out in France, Italy, Greece and Lithuania, while Germany held two renewable energy auctions out of seven planned for this year.

A snapshot of auction results for wind power in European tenders in presented below (data by GWEC Market Intelligence):

The COVID-19 situation has already shaken up auction schedules around the world.

France scheduled its next round for July, but postponed it to November due to the pandemic. Brazil has postponed all tenders in 2020, and with the COVID-19 crisis causing a drop in demand, Colombia is likely to scrap tendering for this year.

Some countries, such as Germany and Greece, plan to stick to their auction schedules, but with changes in stipulations. These may include extending deadlines for licensing and construction and delay announcing the results so that project deadlines do not come into force, GWEC said.

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