Design and Assessment of Renewable Electricity Auctions in Sub-Saharan Africa

Auctions have recently been regarded as a useful alternative to other support schemes for setting the remuneration of renewable electricity (RES-E) worldwide. They have also been increasingly adopted in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region, mostly due to their promise to support the deployment of RES-E projects cost-effectively. The aim of this article is to identify the design elements of RES-E auctions in SSA and assess their pros and cons with respect to different criteria. The results show that the design elements adopted in the SSA auctions are similar to other countries, but some design elements are deemed very relevant in order to address specific constraints to RES-E investments in SSA countries, including pre-selection of sites, technology-specific (solar PV), and price-only auctions. However, the main distinctive feature of auctions in SSA is that they are part of a broader policy mix of support mechanisms aimed at de-risking and providing technical support.