First tender for renewable energy projects might be held in Sept
MOSCOW. Feb 22 (Interfax) - The first competitive selection of renewable energy investment projects might be held in September, the director of the Association of Solar Energy Companies, Anton Usachev told Interfax.
He said the selection will be made for four years ahead. The next tender is planned for June 2014. The selection of the projects will be done by NP Market Council.
Usachev said the Energy Ministry is supposed to submit documents on the development of renewable sources of energy to the government in March.
Renewable energy facilities will be built by private investors who will be able to recover their investments through a special tariff. For the first two years, the planned return on the tariff is 14%, and subsequently it will be subject to a reducing coefficient as the market is expected to develop and the return will amount to 12%.
"Payment for capacity is set according to a special formula for renewable energy facilities, at which it will be possible to earn 14% on the project. Capacity will be paid for at the expense of the participants of the wholesale market for electricity and capacity," Usachev said.
The projects will require localization of production of equipment for construction of power plants in Russia, Usachev said.
There are plans to launch 120 MW of solar generation in 2014, 140 MW in 2015 and an average of 200 MW annually thereafter. In total, there are plans to launch 1,520 MW of solar generation, 3,600 MW of wind generation and 750 MW of small hydropower plants by 2020.
Usachev said that the Renova group's Hevel Solar and Avelar Energy, among others, have solar power projects. They plan to develop the Astrakhan Region, Kalmykia, Bashkortostan, Altai, Stavropol Territory and Volgograd Region.
State nuclear corporation Rosatom and RusHydro have wind power projects, while RusHydro and Nord Hydro have mini HPP projects.
The government has long aimed to increase the use of renewable energy sources from 0.9% in 2008 to 1.5% by 2010, 2.5% by 2015 and 4.5% by 2020. There are plans to increase the share of renewable energy sources in Russian electricity production to 4.5% by 2020 not including large HPP and to 19-20% including the latter, the Energy Ministry's website states.