Germany raises maximum value for innovation tender

Germany's Federal Network Agency today increased the maximum price ​​for this year's rounds of the innovation auction by 25% to EUR 0.0918 (USD 0.099) per kWh in a bid to reflect higher project costs and spark interest in the competition among developers.

The highest acceptable price for the last auction in this category was EUR 0.0743 per kWh.

By raising the maximum value for innovative concepts, the regulator aims to improve the terms of the tender so that developers can obtain adequate bids, president Klaus Mueller said.

The innovation tender calls for proposals for projects supporting the grid and system integration of renewable energy and leading to a more even supply of electricity from such plants. The tender is open to technologies in the fields of wind, solar, energy storage, biomass, geothermal energy and hydropower and the bidders decide which combination of technologies they will pick.

Two rounds of the tender take place every year with deadlines on May 1 and September 1. In 2023, each of the two calls will target to allocate 400 MW of capacity.

The last round of the tender in 2022 was significantly undersubscribed. The agency aimed to award 397 MW of capacity and accepted the only bid it received for a solar plant combined with a storage system in Bavaria. Its capacity was not disclosed. The interest in the tender was stronger at the beginning of 2022 as the first call sought proposals of 397 MW and selected projects totalling 402 MW.

Earlier this year, the Federal Network Agency raised also the price caps for ground-mounted and rooftop solar as well as onshore wind power and this led to stronger interest in the first tenders for 2023.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.075)

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