Pakistan's 800MW Power Competitive Bidding Adds New Thresholds for Solar and Wind Storage Configuration

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 4, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) of Pakistan approved the revised power transmission competitive bidding procedure submitted by the Independent System and Market Operator (ISMO). The current bidding framework involves a total transmission capacity of 800MW, with the first-round bidding scale increased from 200MW to 400MW. Solar and wind projects participating in the first round of bidding must configure battery energy storage systems at the power generation facility site, and the confirmed capacity of the storage system shall not be less than 10% of the confirmed capacity of the corresponding solar or wind facility.

According to ISMO's estimates, if the first-round 400MW capacity is fully configured with storage at the minimum threshold of 10%, the corresponding confirmed capacity of the battery energy storage system would be approximately 40MW; under the applicable discharge duration requirements, the stored energy would be approximately 160MWh. Storage facilities must be co-located with the participating solar or wind facilities, and the relevant capacity will be determined and verified in accordance with Pakistan's market commercial rules and supporting operating procedures.

This bidding stems from Pakistan's 2025 power transmission competitive bidding framework. The federal government officially issued the relevant framework guidelines on January 22, 2026, and NEPRA subsequently approved the bidding procedure submitted by ISMO on March 24 for allocating a total transmission capacity of 800MW. On June 8, ISMO proposed a new round of amendments, including mandatory storage configuration for solar and wind projects, adjustments to the bid document submission deadline, and the establishment of an appeal committee for bidding participants; the relevant revisions were released for public comment on July 11, and ISMO submitted the board-approved revised version on August 7.

The bid document submission period for the first-round 400MW bidding has been adjusted to 1 month and 2 weeks; only if no bid proposals are received by the deadline may ISMO extend the period by up to an additional two weeks. Under the revised bidding schedule, bid document submission will be completed approximately two months after the RFP is issued, followed by the formation of a provisional qualified participant list, processing of appeals, and determination of the final qualified list; the bidding is expected to take place approximately 4 months after the RFP is issued, with results subject to NEPRA approval, and award letters are expected to reach the issuance stage approximately 6 months after the RFP is issued.

NEPRA has required ISMO to simultaneously revise the RFP and other bidding documents in accordance with this decision. ISMO previously estimated that financial simulations were conducted using a capital cost of approximately $0.5 million/MW for solar projects, approximately $1 million/MW for wind projects, and approximately $0.125 million/MWh for battery energy storage; the project evaluation period is 25 years. For the first-round 400MW bidding, ISMO is also required to publicly disclose the relevant financial model before the RFP is issued. ISMO is currently advancing the first-round bidding arrangements, with the initial 400MW RFP planned to enter the issuance stage in September 2026.