The Russian government has reduced the notice period for wind power tenders being held from 90 days to 30 – meaning auctions will be publicly announced only about a month before bid submissions are due.
It had also considered changing the country’s local content rule, but left it unchanged at 65%.
The new notice period will be implemented in time for Russia’s next tender, which is due to be annoucned later this year, and will be in place for auction rounds through to 2024.
Typically, Russia has published the planned capacity of the wind farms to be tendered, as well as where they will be built and when they are due online.
Alexey Zhikharev, director of the Association for the Development of Renewable Energy in Russia, said the change in the procedure for holding tenders this year surprised the industry as it was adopted without discussion with local investors.
He told Windpower Monthly that the shortened notice period would give potential developers less time to prepare. This would likely have an outsized impact on new and smaller players’ ability to take part in tenders.
Zhikharev added: “The competition is aimed at participating a wide range of investors, including foreign ones, while the approved changes are unacceptable for market players, in terms of normal preparations for these tenders.
“It looks like an artificial restriction of competition, that will negatively affect all the market participants and their investment projects, that will not be implemented within the planned time frame.”
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