Germany’s auction for the installation of 191 MW of rooftop solar projects has been oversubscribed by 79%, according to the data released by the federal network agency Bundesnetzagentur.

The auction received a total of 155 bids with a volume of 342 MW. A total of 79 bids with a volume of 193 MW were accepted.

The bids quoted in the auction ranged from €0.088 (~$0.096)/kWh to €0.108 (~$0.0117)/kWh and were below the ceiling tariff of €0.113 (~$0.123)/kWh.

The volume-weighted average bid value was €0.102 (~$0.111)/kWh.

The underwhelming response to solar and wind auctions in 2022 prompted the Bundestag (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 (~$0.0123)/kWh for rooftop solar systems and €0.074 (~$0.081)/kWh for wind project tenders for 2023.

Most of the bids in this auction round were for projects in the North Rhine-Westphalia region which received 19 bids for a total capacity of 48 MW.

It was followed by projects in the Lower Saxony region, which received 11 bids for a total capacity of  20 MW.

Baden-Württemberg received seven bids for a total capacity of 27 MW, whereas Bavaria received seven bids for a total capacity of 22 MW.

No bids were received for projects in the Saarland region.

Seven bids were excluded during the auction process due to formal errors.

The next round of tenders for solar projects in this segment will take place on October 1, 2023.

“The development of the tenders for rooftop solar systems is pleasing, especially the regional distribution. Bids were submitted for projects in every federal state, with projects being awarded in 15 federal states,” said Klaus Müller, President of the Federal Network Agency.

Germany installed 2.6 GW of solar capacity in the first quarter of 2023, a growth of 30% year-over-year from 2 GW installed in the same period last year. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, installations increased 62.5% from 1.6 GW.

In April 2023, in what appeared to be a possible revival of 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. Of the submitted bids, 245 were accepted, while 25 were excluded due to formal errors.