Germany awards 1.08 GW of solar, 68 MW of biomass in March auction

Germany has selected 201 proposals with a combined output of 1.084 GW in its latest solar auction with a March 1 deadline which drew solid interest despite the significant increase in the tender volume.

The technology-specific tender for ground-mounted solar plants and solar sites on structures that are neither a building nor a noise barrier attracted 209 bids totalling 1.116 GW, the Federal Network Agency said on Tuesday. Eight proposals were excluded from the competition due to formal errors.

The bids in the round ranged from EUR 0.040 to EUR 0.055 per kWh. The volume-weighted average price stood at EUR 0.0519 (USD 0.057) per kWh, up from EUR 0.050 per kWh in the previous round.

The largest volume was won by projects located in Bavaria (488 MW), followed by Rhineland-Palatinate (223 MW), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (67 MW) and Saarland (66 MW).

Unlike the solar auction, the biomass tender with a March 1 deadline was significantly undersubscribed. The Federal Network Agency targeted 275 MW for biomass but received 76 proposals with a combined capacity of just 81 MW. Of them, only 56 proposals with a total output of 68 MW were accepted.

The successful bids were in the range of EUR 0.12 per kWh to EUR 0.18 per kWh with the volume-weighted average price coming in at EUR 0.15 per kWh.

The next round of the solar tender will take place on June 1 while the next auction for biomass plants is scheduled for September 1.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.090)

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