The first regional workshop of the AURES II project took place on 25th June, in Budapest. The aim of the workshop was to disseminate the research results of the project, with a special focus on good practices in auctionAn auction is a market mechanism with the aims of allocating... design and the role of technology differentiation (on pre-qualification, realisation period and how to set the auction volumeThe auction volume refers to the amount of renewable electri... in technology neutral auctions), and on financing aspects of RES-E auctions. Besides their general importance, the topics discussed have great relevance to Hungary, as the first pilot auctionAn auction is a market mechanism with the aims of allocating... is planned to be announced this year.
Along with AURES II project members, the workshop attracted more than 60 non-AURES II participants: representatives of Hungarian energy companies – among them some potential tenderers –, energy consultancy firms, government representatives (MFA and Embassies), and the representatives of the HEA responsible for the auctionAn auction is a market mechanism with the aims of allocating... design.
The event was opened by Gábor Zupkó, Head of Representation of the European Commission in Hungary, Attila Nyikos, the Vice President for International Affairs of the Hungarian Energy Agency and by Vasilios Anatolitis, AURES II project leader from Fraunhofer.
Following, the first session focused on the auctionAn auction is a market mechanism with the aims of allocating... practices of the Member States and the Hungarian plans for the technology neutral auctions; Then in session 2 risk sharing between actors (developers, financiers) and risk mitigation measures in auctionAn auction is a market mechanism with the aims of allocating... design were discussed, and finally, in the third session, the Ukrainian experiences and the concept of cross-border auctions were examined.
One fundamental takeaway that emerged is that the financing aspects of the tendering project are indeed a key prerequisite of successful auctionAn auction is a market mechanism with the aims of allocating... processes. Based on the presentations and the discussion, the auctions might increase the risk for investors compared to traditional RES/PV projects with feed-in tariffs, especially in those cases in which a Member State is introducing the auctions for the first time.
László Szabó, head of REKK and main organizer of the event, underlined that “The feed in premium asked by the tenderers is constantly decreasing since 2012, currently this is between 5 and 10 €cent/kWh. Both technology neutral and multi-technology auctions ensure a good level of competition between the most cost-efficient renewable energy projects”. Furthermore, he stated that clear rules communicated before the call for tenderAn auction is a market mechanism with the aims of allocating... More applications would make financial resources more readily available.
As a concluding remark, Szabó highlighed that the active participations of HEA representatives and the Hungarian energy companies at the workshop is a promising sign for the first Hungarian auctions due this Autumn, showing that well-informed stakeholders will participate in well-prepared auctionAn auction is a market mechanism with the aims of allocating... processes.
The presentations given at the workshop, along with some pictures and a detailed agenda of the event can be found on the REKK website at: https://bit.ly/2FRAHvZ
In the pictures: László Szabó, head of REKK and main organizer of the workshop; Vasilios Anatolitis (Fraunhofer ISI), coordinator of AURES II; Mak Dukan (DTU).
