Germany awards 2.7 GW in onshore wind tender amid record interest

Germany has selected 230 projects with a combined capacity of 2,723 MW in the third round of the country's onshore wind tender, which was the first oversubscribed auction in this category for more than two years.

The Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) sought proposals for a combined 2,709 MW and received 239 bids with a total capacity of 2,961 MW, registering the strongest-ever interest in the auction.

“This tender is a record. The bid volume for this round is higher than ever before: The bid amount of almost 3 GW significantly exceeds the 2.5 GW necessary to achieve the annual expansion target,” Klaus Mueller, president of the network agency, commented in the statement published on Tuesday.

The tendered capacity was reduced in July to 2,709 MW from 4,093 MW as the agency feared that it would not attract enough bids. However, the lowered volume was surpassed because of an unusually large number of bids with older permits.

In terms of value, the winning bids ranged between EUR 0.0573 (USD 0.064) per kWh and EUR 0.0735 per kWh. The volume-weighted average price amounted to EUR 0.0733 per kWh, just below the maximum value of EUR 0.0735 per kWh.

Once again, North Rhine-Westphalia led in the auction with 84 awards of a combined 756 MW. It was followed by Brandenburg with 23 projects of 385 MW and Schleswig-Holstein with 24 projects of 285 MW.

Germany's wind energy association BWE welcomed the oversubscribed round, saying it underscores that the industry is “strong and optimistic about the future”.

“In light of the results, it is particularly unfortunate that the Federal Network Agency significantly reduced the available volume prior to the tender awards. Without this unnecessary regulatory intervention, an additional volume of 252 MW could have been awarded in this round alone - a missed opportunity,” BWE’s president Baerbel Heidebroek noted.

Based on the latest results, Heidebroek forecast that the final tender round in November will not be reduced, urging companies with already approved projects to participate. "Up to 10 GW in awards are still possible this year,” Heidebroek said.

The record third round comes after projects with a combined capacity of 2,379 MW were selected in the second round and 1,795 MW in the first round.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.113)

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