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The Colombian government announced 53 enterprises, inlcuding 27 power producers with a total of 56 projects and 26 distribution companies, will participate in the upcoming auction for large-scale renewable projects. The 27 power producers include Spain’s Acciona, Solarpack and Cobra, Chinese manufacturers Trina Solar and Canadian Solar, France’s EDF and Greenyellow and Italy’s Enel, as well as several special purpose vehicles. The 26 distribution companies comprise Colombian renewable energy company Celsia, state-owned oil business Empresa Colombiana de Petróleos (Ecopetrol) and Enertotal.

Planned by the end of October 2019, the auction will be open to new renewable power generation projects of 5 MW and more to be commissioned before 1 January 2022. Eligible technologies will include wind, solar, geothermal, small hydro and wave energy. The power purchase agreements (PPA), lasting 15 years, will be based on a «pay what is contracted» model, with buyers agreeing to pay the contracted energy instead of paying for their withdrawal.

Colombia’s first long-term renewable energy auction took place in early 2019 and attracted bids totaling 1,500 MW from 27 companies but was declared void over competition concerns in February 2019. About 70% of Colombia’s power generation capacity stems from hydropower plants, while the remainder comes from thermal assets. Under its Ideario Energetico 2050 policy issued in 2015, the government aims to add at least 474 MW of wind energy capacity, 143 MW of solar, 275 MW of geothermal and 314 MW of cogeneration with biomass by 2028, i.e. a total of 1,207 MW in renewable energy capacity addition. The auction was expected to be a key component of Colombia’s efforts to boost its installed renewable capacity.

Saudi Aramco and China’s Zhejiang Free Trade Zone have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Saudi Aramco’s purchase of a 9% stake in the Zhejiang integrated refinery and petrochemical complex (China) which is owned by Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical (ZPC), a joint venture between Rongsheng Holding Group, Juhua Group, Tongkun Group, and Zhoushan Marine Comprehensive Development…

US power utility Duke Energy’s affiliate, Duke Energy Renewables, has completed the sale of a minority interest in a portion of its renewable energy portfolio totalling 1.2 GW to the John Hancock Infrastructure Fund (JHIF). JHIF will now own 49% of 37 operating wind power plants, solar + battery energy storage systems (BESS) and 33% of 11 solar PV facilities.

The city of San Francisco has offered bankrupt power utility PG&E Corp, US$2.5bn for the company’s electrical equipment in the city (US). The offer was deemed too low and then refused by PG&E. …

The 420 MW Dau Tieng solar power plant has been commissioned in Tan Chau District, Tay Ninh Province, around 100 km north of Ho Chi Minh City. …

Polish gas transmission system operator GAZ-SYSTEM and Slovak EUSTREAM have annouced the commencement of construction of the 165 km Poland-Slovakia gas pipeline interconnection project on the Polish side.

Power utility Électricité de France (EDF) has delivered into operation the 1,750 MW Taishan-2 nuclear unit of the plant located in Taishan, Guangdong province (China). The first unit was commissioned in December 2018. The project was developed by TNPJVC, a joint venture founded by CGN (51%), EDF (30%) and the Chinese electrician Guangdong Energy Group (19%).