What Drives the Price of Solar Photovoltaic Electricity in Developing Countries?

This brief summarizes an analysis of 37 winning bids for utility-scale solar PV plants procured through auctions in 13 developing countries between 2013 and 2016. For comparison, the full report, obtainable from the authors, also describes examples...

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Main Authors: Dobrotkova, Zuzana, Audinet, Pierre, Sargsyan, Gevorg
Format: Brief
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/324411488435629438/What-drives-the-price-of-solar-photovoltaic-electricity-in-developing-countries
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26191
id okr-10986-26191
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-261912021-05-26T09:05:19Z What Drives the Price of Solar Photovoltaic Electricity in Developing Countries? Dobrotkova, Zuzana Audinet, Pierre Sargsyan, Gevorg solar energy photovoltaic energy finance equipment costs This brief summarizes an analysis of 37 winning bids for utility-scale solar PV plants procured through auctions in 13 developing countries between 2013 and 2016. For comparison, the full report, obtainable from the authors, also describes examples of a failed PV auction in Indonesia and a large, bilaterally negotiated procurement of PV capacity in Nigeria. The 37 plants were selected based on the availability of plant-specific information and the desire to achieve a comprehensive overview of the evolution of auction results across countries and over time, in particular in countries such as Brazil and South Africa that have organized multiple rounds of auctions. The 37 plants were chosen from a set of some 500 winning bids covering more than 50 auctions in 16 countries. Although the sample is relatively small, it is large enough to explain the lowest announced prices and to indicate whether they are supported by market fundamentals. The analysis includes (i) a simple financial model (based on plant-specific parameters) that explains bidding prices and (ii) a comparison of auction designs in the countries covered, along with descriptions of the conditions under which individual auctions took place. Interviews with stakeholders active in utility-scale solar PV markets, including developers, utilities, consulting companies advising governments, bidders, government officials, and financial institutions, complement the analysis. Stakeholders verified some of the assumptions and conclusions, identified business strategies of market players, provided qualitative details about auction processes, and suggested avenues for bringing more sustainability into future solar PV development. 2017-03-02T21:21:09Z 2017-03-02T21:21:09Z 2017 Brief http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/324411488435629438/What-drives-the-price-of-solar-photovoltaic-electricity-in-developing-countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26191 English en_US Live Wire;2017/72 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Brief
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic solar energy
photovoltaic
energy finance
equipment costs
spellingShingle solar energy
photovoltaic
energy finance
equipment costs
Dobrotkova, Zuzana
Audinet, Pierre
Sargsyan, Gevorg
What Drives the Price of Solar Photovoltaic Electricity in Developing Countries?
relation Live Wire;2017/72
description This brief summarizes an analysis of 37 winning bids for utility-scale solar PV plants procured through auctions in 13 developing countries between 2013 and 2016. For comparison, the full report, obtainable from the authors, also describes examples of a failed PV auction in Indonesia and a large, bilaterally negotiated procurement of PV capacity in Nigeria. The 37 plants were selected based on the availability of plant-specific information and the desire to achieve a comprehensive overview of the evolution of auction results across countries and over time, in particular in countries such as Brazil and South Africa that have organized multiple rounds of auctions. The 37 plants were chosen from a set of some 500 winning bids covering more than 50 auctions in 16 countries. Although the sample is relatively small, it is large enough to explain the lowest announced prices and to indicate whether they are supported by market fundamentals. The analysis includes (i) a simple financial model (based on plant-specific parameters) that explains bidding prices and (ii) a comparison of auction designs in the countries covered, along with descriptions of the conditions under which individual auctions took place. Interviews with stakeholders active in utility-scale solar PV markets, including developers, utilities, consulting companies advising governments, bidders, government officials, and financial institutions, complement the analysis. Stakeholders verified some of the assumptions and conclusions, identified business strategies of market players, provided qualitative details about auction processes, and suggested avenues for bringing more sustainability into future solar PV development.
format Brief
author Dobrotkova, Zuzana
Audinet, Pierre
Sargsyan, Gevorg
author_facet Dobrotkova, Zuzana
Audinet, Pierre
Sargsyan, Gevorg
author_sort Dobrotkova, Zuzana
title What Drives the Price of Solar Photovoltaic Electricity in Developing Countries?
title_short What Drives the Price of Solar Photovoltaic Electricity in Developing Countries?
title_full What Drives the Price of Solar Photovoltaic Electricity in Developing Countries?
title_fullStr What Drives the Price of Solar Photovoltaic Electricity in Developing Countries?
title_full_unstemmed What Drives the Price of Solar Photovoltaic Electricity in Developing Countries?
title_sort what drives the price of solar photovoltaic electricity in developing countries?
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2017
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/324411488435629438/What-drives-the-price-of-solar-photovoltaic-electricity-in-developing-countries
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26191
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