Prices in German wind power auction fall to lowest level in 8 years

Germany has planned a total of four auction rounds for wind farms this year, the first of which took place in early February. As in previous rounds, interest in securing operating support was very strong, with the capacity of projects submitted more than double the auction volume. This year’s first round also saw a sharp drop in awarded prices, which fell to their lowest levels since 2018.

Germany has planned a total of four auction rounds for onshore wind farms in 2026, which were originally intended to offer a combined capacity of 10 GW. However, the volume of individual auctions can be adjusted in response to various factors. The volume on offer was adjusted for this year’s first round, in which German grid regulator Bundesnetzagentur offered 3445 MW, almost 1 GW more than originally planned.

According to the regulator, developers submitted bids for 924 projects with a combined capacity of 7858 MW, roughly double the capacity being auctioned. The regulator had to exclude 24 projects from the auction; 439 projects ultimately secured operating support, and the auction volume was fully allocated.

As is traditionally the case, projects in Germany’s windier northern half dominated, with the top spots going to the federal states of Lower Saxony (957 MW), North Rhine-Westphalia (661 MW) and Saxony-Anhalt (438 MW).

Prices fell to their lowest level since 2018, although the actual amount may differ

Awarded prices ranged from 51,9 to 56,4 EUR/MWh, with a weighted average of 55,4 EUR/MWh. Compared with 60,6 EUR/MWh in the previous round, this is a drop of around a tenth. However, the support actually paid may differ depending on the correction factor applied to individual plants, which takes account of weather conditions at different locations across Germany.

The regulator does not publish detailed statistics for individual auctions, but one example is a project by the ČEZ group in the 2022 auction. At the time, the Datteln wind project secured eligibility for operating support of 58,7 EUR/MWh; however, according to the company, the price should amount to 78 EUR/MWh after the correction factors are applied.