Bioenergy auction in Germany attracts record number of bids, exceeding tender threefold

The latest auction for bioenergy plants in Germany has significantly overshot expectations, attracting bids for three times the volume up for auction, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) announced. With more than 890 bids for the auction from October, the agency received almost twice as many bids as in the previous tender. “Never have there been more bids in a single auction round,” said BNetzA head Klaus Müller. The agency had auctioned a volume of 288 megawatts (MW) but received bids for projects with a volume of 910 MW. The agency accepted 270 bids, filling the auctioned volume. Most successful bids were made for installations that are already in operation and for which operators sought to secure new guaranteed remuneration conditions. The average support of accepted bids stood at about 18.2 cents per kilowatt hour, slightly down from 18.9 ct/kWh in the previous round. “Falling prices demonstrate the increase in competition,” Müller said. The next auction for bioenergy will take place in April 2024.

Germany marked its first oversubscribed auction for bioenergy plants in spring this year. Bids for a capacity of 532 MW significantly exceeded the auctioned volume of 300 MW at the time. The spike in applications had followed on an increase in guaranteed remuneration levels.