Record number of bids by far exceeds capacity in latest solar power auction
Clean Energy Wire
The number of bids in the latest German auction for solar power projects has once again exceeded the auctioned capacity, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) announced. There were 1.6 gigawatts (GW) of capacity on auction, and the agency received 516 bids, totalling 4.6 gigawatts (GW). “We’ve never received so many bids in a single auction,” commented BNetzA head Klaus Müller. “The vibrant participation fuels competition. Implementation must now follow suit to achieve expansion targets.”
Of the 516 bids, 124 were ultimately awarded, with projects ranging from ground-mounted installations, through to structures like noise barriers. An average support of 6.47 cents per kilowatt hour (ct/kWh) was offered, down from 7.03 ct/kWh in the previous auction. The southern German state Bavaria received by far the most successful bids, where 63 bidders were awarded around 0.7 GW of capacity. This was followed by northern state Lower Saxony (6 bids, 0.16 GW) and fellow coastal state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (9 bids, 0.14 GW).
Meeting Germany’s solar expansion targets – to a total capacity of 215 GW by 2030 – means tripling the rate of annual expansion of solar. Thanks to recently proposed legislation, which is set to ease spatial planning, licensing and registration procedures, a “lasting solar boom” is expected in the country.
