Offshore wind industry urges postponement of Germany’s 2026 auctions to optimise bids
Clean Energy Wire
Energy and wind power industry associations have urged changes to Germany’s 2026 auctions for offshore wind energy to overcome the sector’s stagnation. In a joint appeal, energy industry group BDEW, offshore wind power association BWO, engineering association VDMA and grid operators proposed to move the next auction from June 2026 to the end of next year. The delay would give bidders time to optimise their projects and prepare legal changes regarding investment conditions and spatial planning in Germany’s territorial waters.
“Fast action is needed to successfully continue offshore wind power expansion,” BDEW head Kerstin Andreae said. Germany’s August 2025 auction was the first one in Germany to receive no bids, after interest had already waned in earlier rounds. Andreae pointed at “increased power market risks and project financing costs” as reasons for the bidders’ restraint, and warned that “the results from 2025 must not be repeated.”
Stefan Thimm, head of offshore wind power group BWO, said “clear rules and fair investment conditions” were necessary, which could be achieved through a reformed auction design that includes contracts for difference (CfDs) and power purchase agreements (PPAs). Moreover, the BWO called for extending the operating license for offshore wind farms to 35 years and a gradual application of fees for delayed operation launches rather than the current sweeping cancellation of awards in case of delays.
In Summer 2023, oil majors BP and TotalEnergies pledged to pay a combined 12.6 billion in a German auction for the right to build offshore wind farms in the North and Baltic seas. The auction marked the first time that investors paid for the right to build offshore wind parks in Germany. In contrast, the latest auction received no bids, with industry saying that plans would put wind turbines in too close proximity of each other, so that the output would be significantly reduced due to shadowing effects. Other reasons included increased costs due to geopolitical tensions and supply chain bottlenecks, as well as volatile electricity markets.
The number of Germany’s offshore wind turbines connected to the grid remained stuck at 1,639 in the first half of 2025. The country has made offshore wind power a key pillar of its plans for an almost fully renewable electricity supply. Industry said at the start of the year that Germany is likely to reach its target of having a total offshore wind electricity capacity of 30 gigawatt (GW) in 2031, one year later than planned.
