From 1 January 2017, the EU State Aid regime for environmental protection and energy requires Member States to issue tenders for the procurement of new solar plants above 1 MW. To help those preparing tenders, SolarPower Europe's tendering task force has developed new guidelines which outline best practice for tendering schemes that are easy to implement and applicant-friendly, while ensuring that policy objectives are achieved in a cost-effective manner.

"We believe that particular attention should be given to ensuring high-realisation rates of solar projects. Getting low prices as an outcome of an auction is only one criteria to consider a tender successful. Pre-qualification criteria and a systematic approach on penalties should also be part of the standard practice," task force leader Jochen Hauff, who is also head of business development, energy industry and policy at BayWa r.e., said in a statement.

Tenders are a focal point at the European level with the European Commission expected to present a revised Renewable Energy Directive by the end of the year, so the guidelines touch upon the potential convergence of tenders across borders: "We consider that a progressive convergence of the design parameters of national tenders should take place first before we think about opening tenders cross-border," SolarPower Europe Policy Director Alexandre Roesch said.

The guidelines suggest minimum design features for each important phase of a tender - before, during and after the bids are submitted. These guidelines will be distributed to all Member States to support the use of best practice in the design of tenders.