Germany's 3rd onshore wind tender sees price drop to EUR 38.2/MWh

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The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) has announced on November 22, 2017, the results of the third auction for onshore wind energy.

The auction was significantly oversubscribed: 210 bids totalling 2,591 MW were submitted, while the total volume available was 1,000 MW. The competitive pressure led to lower prices: the average volume-weighted price quoted in the bids in this auction was 4.02 cents per kilowatt hour (ct/kWh) and thus lower than the highest price accepted in the last auction of 4.29 ct/kWh.

The Bundesnetzagentur accepted 61 bids comprising a total volume of 1,000.4 MW.

The prices quoted in the successful bids ranged from 2.2 ct/kWh to 3.82 ct/kWh and averaged at 3.4 ct/kWh. The network expansion area did not affect the bid awards in this auction. The maximum volume allowed for the network expansion area was around 430 MW, and a volume of 231 MW was awarded.

North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg had the highest number of successful bids, with 17 and 16 respectively; in each case, the successful projects together comprise just over 270 MW.

With 89% of all the bids submitted, the citizens' energy companies again showed a particularly strong presence in the auction. As a result, these companies account for 98% of all the successful bids (ie 60 bids) and 99.2% of the total volume awarded. The successful bids from the citizens' energy companies have been awarded a uniform price of 3.82 ct/kWh, while that from the other bidder has been awarded the price quoted in the bid (pay-as-bid). The average weighted price awarded is consequently also around 3.82 ct/kWh.

This auction was characterized by bids for projects not yet given approval. In the first two onshore wind auctions to be held in 2018, bidders will be required to obtain approval for their projects before being able to participate in the auction.

Jochen Homann, Bundesnetzagentur President, commented:

Once again, there has been a significant decrease in the prices awarded, down a further 10% on the last auction. The average award price is around 3.8 ct/kWh and thus clearly below 4 ct/kWh.

The results confirm observations from the previous auctions: almost all of the successful bids came from citizens' energy companies. These bidders now have four and a half years to implement their projects and in our estimation based their bids on anticipated positive developments in plant technology and falling prices

We have lately informed about other onshore wind projects in Germany:

• 9.9 MW wind-powered hydrogen project in Hesse
• 42 MW wind park in Eschweiler
• 10 MW wind project in Odisheim, Lower Saxony
• 4.8 MW Berger Wacken wind project in Rhineland-Palatinate