Germany Launches First Competitive Offshore Wind Tender, 1.55GW Up for Grabs

German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) today issued an invitation to tender as part of the first competitive bidding process for offshore wind under which the bidders with the lowest offered prices will be awarded contracts.

Within this call, up to 1,550MW of offshore wind capacity is available for projects scheduled to go into operation after 31 December 2020.

All offshore wind projects approved before August 2016 or those with an advanced approval permit may participate in the call for tender that covers wind farms planned for both the North Sea and Baltic Sea. The offshore wind tender is capped at 12 Eurocents per kilowatt hour.

The deadline for submission of bids is 1 April, however, since the date falls on Saturday they must be submitted to the Federal Network Agency by 3 April. Following the evaluation of bids, which will begin immediately after the deadline expires, and the tender award procedure, participants will be informed of the decision.

The second tender for offshore wind in Germany will take place on 1 April 2018, when further 1,550MW will be offered. The total volume of the two tenders therefore amounts to 3,100MW, with at least 500MW of offshore wind capacity to be built in the Baltic Sea.

The new tendering procedure in Germany, much like the Dutch approach that led to record low prices offered for offshore wind power, is a result of an amended Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG 2016), which replaces feed-in tariffs with competitive auctions and limits wind energy deployment to allow for the grid development to catch up. At the end of the last year, the European Commission approved the new amendments, saying they will promote the steady deployment of renewable energy whilst maintaining competition in the German energy market.

Offshore WIND Staff