Innovative failure: Another German auction combining renewables with storage performs poorly

In May, Germany held the first round of this year's innovative auctions, which are designed to support the construction of renewable energy sources combined with storage. While interest in innovative auctions was initially strong, the final round last year ended in failure, with just one bid submitted. As with other types of auctions, maximum bid prices were significantly increased this year, but there was no major improvement in the innovative auctions.

In addition to the auction supporting the construction of onshore wind farms at the beginning of last month, Germany also held its first innovative auction of the year. The German network regulator Bundesnetzagentur had previously announced a 25% increase in the price cap for innovative auctions, as it had done for other renewable energy auctions.

The higher bid price limit was intended to help attract more projects after the final round of innovative auctions last year ended in failure, with just one bid submitted. The sharp drop in interest in the latest round was apparently due primarily to a change in the auction rules: previous rounds had offered a fixed bonus, while the December auction adopted a model similar to that used in other auctions, with bidders competing on the minimum guaranteed price and any premium depending on the selling price achieved on the market.