German rooftop solar auction is undersubscribed as prices rise again

Another round of auctions to support the construction of photovoltaic power plants on rooftops and noise barriers took place in Germany at the beginning of June. As in previous rounds, the prices awarded rose slightly again. This year’s second auction of this type nevertheless differed from previous rounds: for the first time in two years, the auction was undersubscribed.

As last year, Germany is holding a total of three auction rounds this year for rooftop and noise-barrier photovoltaics. The second took place at the beginning of last month, with the German network regulator offering 282.7 MW of capacity for bidding. Developers submitted 127 projects to the auction, with a total installed capacity of 273.5 MW, leaving it undersubscribed. The regulator then had to exclude nine bids from the auction.

A total of 118 projects with an installed capacity of 255.3 MW were ultimately successful, filling 90% of the auction. The awarded guaranteed minimum prices ranged from 69 to 103.8 EUR/MWh. Their weighted average reached 92.2 EUR/MWh, more than one euro higher than in the previous round. The trend of gradually rising prices that began at the start of last year therefore continues.

"Despite the drop in the volume of bids, the legally stipulated capacity was almost reached. The awarded capacity in this round is also evenly distributed across regions. The balanced development of renewable energy sources throughout Germany is welcome," said Klaus Müller, president of the German network regulator.

As in the previous round, projects with a capacity of between 1 and 20 MW were eligible to participate, with most projects having a capacity of up to 2 MW. According to the regulator, the largest project submitted had an installed capacity of 20 MW, the upper limit for participation in the auction.