Germany’s auction to install 191 MW of rooftop solar power projects has been oversubscribed by 195%, according to the data released by the federal network agency Bundesnetzagentur.

The auction received 184 bids with a volume of 373 MW. A total of 88 bids with a volume of 191 MW were accepted.

The bids quoted in the auction ranged from €0.088 (~$0.096)/kWh to €0.0998 (~$0.11)/kWh and were below the ceiling tariff of €0.1125 (~$0.12)/kWh. This is also lower than the highest award price in the previous auction at €0.108 (~$0.13)/kWh.

The volume-weighted average award price was €0.0958 (~$0.10)/kWh, which is €0.006 (~$0.0065)/kWh lower than the average of €0.1018 (~$0.11)/kWh in the previous auction.

“This auction round was nearly twice oversubscribed, and the strong competition has led to lower award prices. It is pleasing to see how the awards are spread over the country, with at least one winning bid in each federal state,” said Klaus Müller, Bundesnetzagentur President.

The underwhelming response to solar and wind auctions in 2022 prompted the German Parliament to allow the Federal Network Agency to raise the tariff cap by up to 25%. The country set a ceiling tariff of €0.113 (~$0.12)/kWh for rooftop solar systems.

Most of the bids in this auction round were for projects in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, which received 14 bids for a total capacity of 27 MW.

It was followed by projects in the Lower Saxony region, which received 13 bids for a total capacity of 25 MW.

Bavaria received 13 bids for a total capacity of 21 MW, whereas Baden-Württemberg received 11 bids for 20 MW.

Bids were allowed for a volume higher than 1 MW and up to 20 MW. In all, 64 of the winning bids were for a volume up to 2 MW. The largest bid was for a volume of 17 MW.

A total of 12 bids had to be excluded from the tendering procedure due to formal errors.

The next round of tenders for solar projects in this segment will take place on February 1, 2024.

Germany installed 3.4 GW of solar power capacity in the third quarter of 2023, a 79% year-over-year growth from 1.9 GW. However, the installations witnessed a 5.6% drop from 3.6 GW quarter-over-quarter.