Iberdrola, Innogy and Ørsted win over 1.35 GW in Germany's second offshore wind tender

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Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) has announced that six bids were submitted in response to its second offshore wind tender, which aimed to allocate 1,610 MW. The average price of the winning bids was EUR46.60 (US$56.06) per MWh, though some participants bid for projects without subsidies.

The agency did not disclose the winning bids. However, some companies have announced their success.

Iberdrola has announced that it was awarded two offshore wind farms to be constructed in the German Baltic Sea - the 476 MW Baltic Eagle and 10 MW Wikinger Süd projects. Iberdrola will develop these wind power farms at the same time to maximise cost efficiency and economies of scale.

These two wind farms will form an offshore complex with the existing Wikinger project, located in front of Rügen island, of almost 850 MW - the largest offshore wind power project in the Baltic Sea and the largest performed by Iberdrola to date. The new complex will save 1.65 million tons of CO₂ emissions each year and supply the power equivalent to 45% of the total consumption of the Federal State of Mecklemburg-Western Pomerania.

Furthermore, Innogy SE has announced its awarding of the rights to build and operate the Kaskasi offshore wind farm in the German North Sea, which will have an installed capacity of circa 325 MW. 

The wind farm will be built off Heligoland in moderate water depths of 18 to 25 metres and in the same grid connection cluster (HelWin2) as Innogy’s Nordsee Ost wind farm. The converter platform required for grid connection has been in operation for several years. It is intended to achieve synergies in operation and maintenance with the neighbouring Nordsee Ost wind farm.

Innogy plans to make the final investment decision for Kaskasi in spring 2020, with the aiming of starting commercial operations in 2022.

Lastly, Ørsted has announced that it successfully bid for the 420 MW Borkum Riffgrund West 1 offshore wind project at a price of EUR0 per MWh, and the 131.75 MW Gode Wind 4 project at a price of EUR98.30 (US$118.2) per MWh. Both wind farms will be located in the German North Sea.

With the second tendering process now concluded, the Federal Network Agency has awarded a total of 3,100 MW offshore wind capacity. In order to be eligible, projects had to have been approved or planned prior to 1 August 2016 or had at least one consultation date implemented.

The agency are planning another offshore wind tender for 2021 for projects that will go into operation from 2026.