Germany’s latest innovation tender for 583 MW of renewable energy projects was oversubscribed by 218%, with bids totaling 1,856 MW, according to data released by the federal network agency Bundesnetzagentur.

Of the 154 bids submitted, 50 were awarded contracts for a combined 587 MW of solar plus storage projects.

The bids quoted in the auction ranged from €0.0674 (~$0.072)/kWh to €0.0745 (~$0.080)/kWh, which were below the ceiling tariff of €0.0918 (~$0.098)/kWh.

The volume-weighted average tariff awarded was €0.0709 (~$0.076)/kWh, which is €0.0124 (~$0.013)/kWh lower than the average of €0.0833 (~$0.089)/kWh in the previous auction.

“The significant oversubscription in the innovation auction follows on from the trend set in the auctions for ground-mounted solar photovoltaic systems. The high level of participation gives rise to the hope that growth in the field of installation combinations will also strengthen and stabilize,” said Klaus Müller, President of the Bundesnetzagentur.

Most of the bids in this auction round were for projects in Bavaria, which received 25 bids for a total capacity of 227 MW. It was followed by projects in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which received seven bids for a total capacity of 115 MW. Rhineland-Palatinate received three bids for a total capacity of 57 MW.

Most bids were for solar-plus-storage projects, continuing the trend from previous rounds. Notably, this round saw the first-ever bids for wind-storage combinations, totaling 91 MW, although none was awarded.

A total of 18 bids had to be excluded from the auction due to formal errors.

The next innovation tender will close for bids on May 1, 2025.

In the previous round of innovative tenders concluded in July, 48 bids totaling 564 MW were received. Of this, 43 projects with a total capacity of 512 MW were awarded. The bids received for this tender ranged from €0.0678 ($0.0735)/kWh to €0.0917 ($0.0995)/kWh, with an average bid of €0.0833 ($0.0904)/kWh. In this auction, 24 projects for 245 MW were awarded to projects in Bavaria. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein were awarded 79 MW and 73 MW, respectively.

The total installed solar capacity in Germany soared to a record 14.2 GW in 2023, rising 91% from the previous year.

Meanwhile, electricity generated from renewables covered a majority of electricity consumption in Germany for the first time, accounting for nearly 59.7% of the net public electricity generation in 2023.