Germany seeks developers for 7 GW of offshore wind

Germany's Federal Network Agency seeks to award four areas in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, which have the potential to accommodate a total of 7 GW of wind generation capacity, with bids in the auction expected until June 1, 2023.

Three of the areas, each with a potential capacity of 2 GW, are located in the North Sea about 120 km (74.5 mi) northwest of the small Heligoland archipelago, and one area with the potential to host 1 GW of wind turbines is in the Baltic Sea about 25 km off the Ruegen island.

All four areas that are being tendered have not been pre-examined by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) which means that the marine environment, the subsoil and wind and oceanographic conditions have not been analysed. The winners in the auction will have to carry out the necessary preliminary studies before launching construction works.

Contracts will be awarded to the projects requiring the lowest state remuneration. If several competitors submit proposals with a bid value of EUR 0.00 per kWh, the winner will be selected in a so-called dynamic bidding process. In this case, the contract will go to the bidder with the highest willingness to pay.

The commissioning of the wind farms is planned for 2030.

The auctions are an important step on the way to achieving the targeted 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, said the Federal Network Agency's president Klaus Mueller. The capacity tendered in the current round exceeds many times the previous tenders for offshore wind energy.

By March 1, 2023, the electricity regulator will launch more offshore wind tenders for areas with the potential for 1.8 GW of installed capacity. These areas have been pre-examined by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency.

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