On Thursday, the Spanish authorities amended the criteria used to decide the winners of competitive tendering processes for renewable energy projects. The changes bring stronger weighting to socioeconomic factors among other things, meaning that the cheapest bid will no longer be guaranteed to win. It is believed the amendments are intended to encourage bidders whose supply chains are less dependent on China.
According to reports in the Spanish press, this Thursday’s amendment to legislation from 2013 means that the most important element in competitive tender bids will be other “non-economic” factors such as the “socioeconomic impact” of a project’s value chain.
The amendment itself states that weighting of up to 30% will apply to projects that contribute to “the resilience, environmental sustainability, innovation, the socioeconomic impact of the project, or other aspects that improve the integration of renewable energy sources in the electrical system.”
The changes are also a reaction to October’s EU Wind Energy Package, which includes an action plan to be developed urgently in collaboration with the member states. Action number 4 calls on member states to include objective, transparent and non-discriminatory qualitative criteria in tenders for renewable energy projects.
It is hoped that the changes will mean member states take account of the environmental and social factors of tender bids and the need to have a resilient supply chain. Spain has thus been rather proactive in taking action to implement the EU’s proposals before the end of the year.
