In what indicates a possible revival in Germany’s renewable sector, the country’s solar auction was oversubscribed with 347 bids totaling 2.87 GW submitted for a tendered quantity of 1.95 GW of ground-mounted and non-building solar systems, according to the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).

Of the submitted bids, 245 were accepted, while 25 were excluded due to formal errors.

The dwindling interest from renewable developers in Germany’s projects adversely impacted all solar and wind auctions last year. In January, the German Parliament allowed the Bundesnetzagentur to raise the tariff cap.

“For the first time since June 2022, the number of bids received has significantly exceeded the amount put out to tender. Never have so many bids been submitted in such a tender. It is important to maintain this high level of bids to push ahead with the necessary expansion over the long term,” said Klaus Müller, President of Bundesnetzagentur.

The maximum value for this tender was raised to €0.0737 (~$0.082)/kWh before the bid deadline. The tariffs ​​quoted in the bids range between €0.0529 (~$0.059) /kWh and €0.0730 (~$0.081)/kWh. At €0.0703 (~$0.078)/kWh, the average quantity-weighted bid value is slightly below the new ceiling.

The next round of tenders for solar systems in the first segment is scheduled for July 1, 2023.

Most of the awarded volume went to locations in Bavaria (845 MW), followed by Brandenburg (223 MW) and Rhineland-Palatinate (163 MW). Arable and grassland accounted for the highest volume (851 MW), followed by hard shoulders on motorways or railways (755 MW).

Last December, a 202 MW tender round was undersubscribed for solar systems on buildings and noise protection walls. It corresponded to the average volume of the accepted bids from the bidding rounds on April 1, 2022, and August 1, 2022, and was thus significantly below the previous round.

The tender in June last year for 1.126 GW of solar projects was undersubscribed by 412 MW, which meant a whopping 37% of the tendered capacity did not find any takers.

Germany installed 7.18 GW of solar capacity in 2022, a growth of 35.47% YoY from 5.3 GW installed in the previous year. The country’s cumulative solar capacity at the end of the year stood at 66.5 GW.