Peru decides to purchase 460 million U.S. photovoltaic modules

Peru’s Minister of Energy and Mines Jorge Merino announced that tenders for renewable energy power plants such as hydropower, biomass and solar energy will soon be announced. The budget for bidding is set at $3.1 billion, but most of the funds — about $2.6 billion — will be used to build a total of 1.1 gigawatt hydroelectric power plants. Another 500 million U.S. dollars will be allocated to 250 megawatts of renewable energy power plants, including 50 megawatts of biomass power generation projects. The winning renewable energy project must go online in 2016.

Osinergmin, Peru’s national energy and mining investment regulator, will coordinate the Ministry of Energy and Mining’s responsibility for bidding. Merino also announced that the government plans to purchase about 500,000 PV modules with the participation of private investment. These solar modules are estimated to cost 460 million US dollars, but Merino did not disclose the usefulness of these components. In mid-July, Merino launched the $200 million National Photovoltaic House hold Electrification initiative, which aims to provide photovoltaic power systems for 20,000 low-income families across the country. According to the government, this plan will allow 95% of the country's electricity to be used by the end of 2016. The government also recently opened a bidding program for the PV system installation contractors of this program.