Germany continues to struggle with a shortage of projects in rooftop solar auctions

Germany is once again supporting the development of solar power plants on rooftops and noise barriers this year through an auction system, with the third and final round of the year held in October. Compared with other auctions, investor interest remains subdued. The volume of projects submitted in the final round did increase, but the regulator had to exclude a number of them from the auction, and some of the capacity on offer once again went unused. Awarded prices remain largely unchanged, holding just below EUR 100/MWh.

Germany held a total of three separate auction rounds this year to support the construction of solar power plants on rooftops and noise barriers. Just under 300 MW of capacity was auctioned in each round, but the capacity on offer was not fully taken up in any of them.

The situation improved significantly in the final round, when the volume of projects submitted exceeded the auction volume for the first time in a year. Even so, not all of the 296 MW of capacity on offer was taken up, as the regulator had to exclude projects with a capacity of 58 MW from the 346 MW submitted. All 143 remaining projects, with a total installed capacity of 288 MW, were ultimately successful in the auction.

In the final round, awarded guaranteed prices ranged from EUR 85 to 100/MWh, with a weighted average of EUR 96.7/MWh. Prices have therefore remained more or less unchanged this year, close to EUR 100/MWh, and continue to be higher than in the previous two years.

Unlike auctions for ground-mounted installations, which are traditionally dominated by Germany’s southern federal states, most of the projects were located in the northern part of the country. The largest number of successful projects came from North Rhine-Westphalia (66 MW), followed by Hesse (30 MW), Brandenburg (28 MW) and Lower Saxony (27 MW).