South Korea’s Korea Energy Agency has announced its first-half 2026 solar fixed-price contract tender, expected to open in early June, as legislation to replace the country’s renewable portfolio standard with a government-led auction system advances through the National Assembly.
The Korea Energy Agency (KEA) presented the tender at a briefing in Seoul this week, with applications expected to open in early June and results anticipated by late July. The ceiling price will be announced with the formal tender notice. The 2025 ceiling stood at KRW 155,742 ($103.33)/MWh, down from KRW 157,307/MWh in 2024. THE KEA attributed each reduction to lower PV levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and increased bidding competition.
Carbon emissions from PV modules will for the first time be incorporated as a scored quantitative criterion worth 20 points, rated on a four-tier scale from 630 kg CO₂/kW or below at the top to more than 710 kg CO₂/kW at the bottom. The weighting for bid price has been reduced from 90 to 70 points and a 20-point carbon score added, the KEA said. Floating solar projects will receive 12 additional months to reach commissioning across all capacity brackets above 1 MW. Small-scale applicants holding a KEA financing recommendation letter will be exempt from submitting duplicate documentation.
