Onshore wind auction undersubscribed for the first time

In this year’s second auction of onshore wind power capacity, not enough bids were submitted to cover the 670 megawatts (MW) on offer, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) says in a press release. “The moderate undersubscription of an auction confirms a trend of decreasing capacities offered,” said BNetzA head Jochen Homann, adding raising support rates for future auctions would likely attract more bids. Support rates for submitted projects, totalling 604 MW, ranged from 4.65 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) to 6.28 cents/kWh, with an average of 5.73 cents/kWh, the press release said. The agency told the Clean Energy Wire the lowest submitted bid was in fact 4.3 cents/kWh. But since it came from a citizen cooperative, rules stipulate that it is eligible for receiving the highest rate awarded to another project. The BNetzA says changing auction rules to require all participants to obtain licenses before submitting their bid had little effect on the support rate. Citizens’ energy cooperatives, which were exempted from this obligation in earlier auctions, secured projects with a capacity of 113 MW this time, it adds.

Find the press release in German here.

Find background in the CLEW factsheet High hopes and concerns over onshore wind power auctions.