Windy north still dominates German wind power auctions

Germany held the third of four auctions for onshore wind farms planned for this year in early August. Unlike auctions for offshore wind farms, which have recently become entirely unattractive to investors, interest in the auction was once again strong. The volume of capacity submitted was the second-highest in the history of these auctions, which have been running since 2017. Windier regions in the north of the country continue to dominate the auctions.

Germany has held another auction to support the construction of onshore wind farms, the third this year. In the latest round, the country's network regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, offered more than 3.4 GW of capacity for bidding. Developers submitted more than 600 projects to the auction, with total installed capacity exceeding 5.7 GW.

"This round once again saw demand significantly exceed supply. At 5.7 GW, the volume of projects submitted was the second-highest in the history of the auctions. Awarded prices fell again compared with the previous round," said Klaus Müller, president of the German regulator.

Onshore auctions therefore remain highly attractive to investors in Germany. The same cannot be said of auctions for the offshore segment, where the latest round ended in complete failure—not a single bid was submitted.

In the auction for onshore wind projects, developers secured guaranteed prices ranging from 63.9 to 66.4 EUR/MWh. The weighted average awarded price was 65.7 EUR/MWh, almost 3 EUR/MWh lower than in the previous round.

Germany's northern federal states continue to dominate onshore wind auctions, as they offer more favourable conditions for construction. The most successful projects were in North Rhine-Westphalia (817 MW), followed by Lower Saxony (800 MW) and Brandenburg (609 MW). Repowering of older installations may also play a role, as these were also built mainly in northern Germany in the early years.