German solar tender oversubscribed despite increased volume
Clean Energy Wire
Germany’s latest auction for large-scale open area solar arrays was oversubscribed despite an increased tender volume, the country's grid agency BNetzA has said. Total bids added up to a capacity of 1,116 megawatts (MW), slightly more than the auction volume of 1,108 MW – which was raised from the original 617 MW. The previous government decided last summer to increase the auction volumes for upcoming tenders. Successful bid prices ranged from 4.05 to 5.55 cents per kilowatt-hour (ct/kWh) and averaged 5.19 ct/kWh, slightly above the average price in the previous auction of 5.00 ct/kWh. In contrast, the auction for biomass was undersubscribed, BNetzA said.
By contrast, a parallel auction for biomass energy plants did not attract enough bids to fill the tender volume, the agency added. Of the 275 MW auctioned, bids were received for 81 MW and only 68 MW were ultimately awarded.
Solar PV remains a major cornerstone of the country’s energy transition. The government coalition (SPD, Green Party and FDP) last week (6 April) adopted a major energy policy reform package, which aims to raise the rollout of wind and solar power “to a completely new level” and speed up the permit and construction processes.
