Record participation in latest German solar PV auction

The volume of bids in the latest German auction for ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) projects has once again by far exceeded the auctioned capacity, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) announced. The agency received 574 bids totalling 5.5 gigawatts (GW), surpassing the 1.6 GW of capacity up for auction. This sets a record for both the highest number of bids and submitted bid volume, oversubscribing the capacity on offer almost three and a half times. "Never before has there been such large participation in a tender for ground-mounted installations," said BNetzA head Klaus Müller, adding that the competition had resulted in low awarded support per kilowatt hour of electricity. A previous solar auction in August was also heavily oversubscribed.

124 of the bids were ultimately successful, with most projects planned close to highways or railroads or on arable or grassland. The projects will receive support of between 4.44 and 5.47 cents per kilowatt hour (ct/kWh), significantly below the previous auction (5.39 - 6.65 ct/kWh).

Germany is making solar PV one of its central energy sources as it aims to ramp up the share of renewables to 80 percent of electricity consumption by 2030. Meeting the country’s solar expansion targets – to a total capacity of 215 GW by 2030 – means significantly increasing the rate of annual expansion. 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. Germany will end its next auction for solar PV on 1 March.