Wind industry calls for renewables auction reform

The new German system for tendering renewable energy projects to the cheapest bidder urgently needs to be amended to avoid severe planning insecurity for the wind industry, the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) says in a press release. The reduction of annual expansion volumes from around 4,000 to 2,800 megawatts, as well as the “flawed legal definition of the new actor group ‘citizen energy’”, make reliable projections “almost impossible” for wind turbine manufacturers and suppliers, the BWE argues. Extended time limits to implement citizen energy projects make it hard for turbine manufacturers to anticipate orders, the BWE says, calling for a more consistent auction system with equal time limits for all bidders or for exempting certain citizen-owned projects from mandatory auctions altogether.

Find the press release in German here.

See the CLEW factsheet EEG reform 2016 – switching to auctions for renewables for background.