South Korea announces 1 GW solar tender

<p>South Korea’s Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment (MCEE) has unveiled a tender covering approximately 1 GW of new solar capacity.</p>

<p>The tender, offering winning bidders a fixed-price contract, has been given a bid ceiling price of KRW 147,686 ($99.46)/kWh, around 5% lower than <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/05/27/south-korea-launches-1-gw-pv-tender/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">last year’s 1 GW solar tender</a>.</p>

<p>The tender also features preferential prices for solar modules with a lower carbon footprint, which MCEE says is in consideration of their contribution to the domestic industry and supply chain.</p>

<p>The preferential price adds an additional KRW 16/kWh for use of grade 1-certified modules, with the lowest manufacturing carbon emissions, and KRW 7/kWh for grade 2-certified modules.&nbsp;</p>

<p>These preferential prices represent an increase of KRW 4/kWh and a decrease of KRW 2/kWh compared to the previous year, which the ministry says takes into account the recent difference in market prices with modules outside the grade.</p>

<p>MCEE and Korea Energy Agency plan to hold an online video briefing session on the tender on July 21.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The ministry’s latest updates also confirms this is the final year bidding before a reform of the Renewable Energy Supply Obligation (RPS) system, in which the country’s solar tenders fall under, to <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/05/20/south-korea-advances-bill-to-scrap-renewable-quota-system/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">replace it with capacity-based government auctions</a>.</p>

<p>According to figures released earlier this year, South Korea’s fixed-price tender system has selected <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/05/28/south-korea-launches-solar-tender-as-rps-phase-out-advances/#:~:text=selected%20a%20total%20of%2010%2C638%20MW%2C" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">over 10 GW of solar capacity</a> since launching in 2017.</p>

<p>South Korea’s cumulative solar capacity reached 30,346 MW by the end of 2025, according to figures published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), a 3.6 GW increase on figures reported at the end of 2024.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/07/17/south-korea-announces-1-gw-solar-tender/">South Korea announces 1 GW solar tender</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com">pv magazine Global</a>.</p>