Germany Sets Out Offshore Wind Tender Rules

Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) has announced the terms of the second competitive offshore wind tender.

The tender volume amounts to 1,610MW, comprising the 1,550MW volume set out in the Offshore Wind Energy Act, plus 60MW additional capacity not awarded in the first call for tenders in April 2017.

The maximum bid threshold in the second tender was lowered from EUR 0.12 ct/kWh to EUR 0.1/ kWh. The projects which competed in the first tender round and which had a negative value bid have been excluded for the second tender round, the agency said. The contract will be awarded to the projects with the lowest bid values, i.e. the lowest subsidy requirement.

Unlike the first tendering procedure, bids from offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea will have a preferential status in this round, the agency said.

The so-called “Baltic Sea quota” calls for a minimum of 500MW to be awarded for offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea, as required by the Offshore Wind Energy Act.

The second call for tenders will open on April 1, 2018, the agency said.

It will be eligible for offshore wind farms that have been approved before August 2016 or have an advanced approval status and will be operational after December 31, 2020. Further requirements relate to the location of the offshore wind farms within the North and the Baltic Sea.

The bids are to be submitted to the Federal Network Agency in Bonn by April 3, 2018.