German solar market continues to give out mixed news when it comes to auctions as after a successful ground mounted auction recently, Bundesnetzagentur has now shared disappointing results of the innovation tender—selecting only 84 MW of 400 MW offered for the category in the latest round.
The Federal Network Agency had previously announced the 400 MW tender for a mix of technologies as solar, wind, biomass, storage, geothermal and hydroelectric plants, capping tariff at €0.0918/kWh reflecting 25% increase from the previous round. Solar was paired with storage (see Germany Increases Innovation Tender Tariffs).
The ceiling tariff was raised to factor in high component prices after it secured only 1 bid for a solar and storage project in the previous round in December 2022. However, the move has been met with not much success as only 3 bids came in for the May 2023 round.
These were offered for a 14.8 MW and 5.7 MW project from Enerparc, and a 63 MW facility from Solar Zerbst. All of these offer a combination of solar with storage. All 3 were selected.
For this round, the agency has not disclosed the lowest, highest or the average bids determined stating that 'a publication of the values would reveal trade and business secrets of the bidder'. Details of the auction round are available on the agency's website.
Onshore wind auction round did not fare any better either. Against 2.866 GW tendered capacity, bids came in for 1.597 GW and the agency awarded 1.535 GW.
The latest ground mounted solar auction in April 2023 was, however, a surprise for Bundesnetzagentur as it was the 1st oversubscription for any of its auctions since June 2022 (see Germany Announces Oversubscribed PV Auction).
Nonetheless, the country is steaming ahead with its solar installations having clocked in nearly 5 GW during 5M/2023, including more than 1 GW deployed each month since March 2023 (see Striking Growth For Solar In Germany).
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