Germany’s Solar Auction Closes Oversubscribed as Average Price Falls Below 4.8 Cents

Germany’s most recent onshore solar tender attracted substantially more capacity than the Federal Network Agency was prepared to award, with submitted bids outpacing the available volume by more than one gigawatt.

The agency received 401 applications totalling 3.17 GW. It awarded 2.13 GW across 261 successful bids, leaving roughly a third of the submitted capacity unfunded. The average clearing price was 4.79 euro cents per kilowatt-hour, according to PV Magazine.

The result extends a gradual decline in German solar auction prices. The previous round, held in May, averaged 4.94 euro cents, and the February auction cleared at exactly five cents — placing the latest figure below both preceding benchmarks.

Several features stand out from the current tender:

• Winning bids spanned a range of 4.38 to 4.97 euro cents per kWh.
• Overall demand exceeded the awarded capacity by nearly one gigawatt.
• Projects were concentrated in southern Germany, with Bavaria attracting the largest share, followed by Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony.

The continued high submission volumes suggest that developers are willing to participate — and accept the risk of rejection — under competitive state-run tender conditions.

Source: PV Magazine