Renewable Energy Auctions: Lessons from the Global South

Renewable Energy Auctions provides an overview of renewable energy auctions globally, focusing on the Global South, since this is where auctions have been pioneered and provided most transformative results. Renewable energy auctions have become the dominant method for contracting utility-scale renewable energy projects, in large part due to the cost-efficient tariffs secured through this method. The ascent of auctions has been particularly rapid and transformative in the Global South, where many countries have secured renewable energy supplies at record-breaking prices. This book analyses the experiences of frontier auction markets in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and India, with the aim of improving how auctions are designed and implemented globally.

The book goes beyond the topic of auction design - which is concerned with the micro-economics of design choices - to include auction implementation. Across ten chapters, the authors argue that choices around the auction implementing institution and the procurement process are overlooked in most publications on the subject, yet this is often a key factor for determining outcomes. Moving beyond the program level of analysis (auction design and implementation), the book includes both country and project level factors' impacts on auction outcomes, ultimately highlighting that successful price and investment outcomes are dependent upon integration of all three levels of auction design and implementation.