Investors offer to pay €3 bln for right to build offshore windfarms in Germany's latest auction

Two investors have bid a total of more than 3 billion euros for permits to build offshore wind parks in the German North Sea, said the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) in a press release. The two successful bidders, EnBW Offshore Projektgesellschaft 1 and Offshore Wind One, get the right to build two wind parks with a total capacity of 2,500 megawatts (MW). "The results show how attractive it is to invest in offshore wind energy in Germany," said BNetzA president Klaus Müller. "They are another important step towards achieving the offshore expansion targets." The two areas for offshore wind farms with a capacity of 1,500 MW and 1,000 MW are located in the North Sea around 120 kilometres northwest of Heligoland. The wind farms are scheduled to be commissioned in 2031. The proceeds from the offshore tenders are primarily channelled into reducing electricity costs and, to a lesser extent, into marine nature conservation and the promotion of environmentally friendly fishing, said BNetzA.

Last summer, oil majors BP and TotalEnergies had pledged to pay a combined 12.6 billion euros for the right to build wind farms in the North and Baltic seas in the world’s largest ever offshore wind auction. The auction had marked the first time that investors would pay for the right to build offshore wind parks in Germany.