Tenders for wind and solar power on land again had very disparate results in Germany, with a large wind auction being heavily undersubscribed and interest for a smaller solar auction by far exceeding the volume on offer.

Only 91 bids with a combined volume of 718MW were handed in for 1.5GW of onshore wind capacity on offer, the federal network agency (BNetzA) said.

The average successful bid coincided with the price ceiling of €60 ($72) per megawatt hour of energy to be produced, reflecting the lack of competition in the auction.

“The renewed undersubscription of the February tender makes it clear that work must continue to improve the permitting situation and the availability of areas," said Matthias Zelinger, managing director of VDMA Power Systems, a group representing wind turbine OEMs.

The return to heavily undersubscribed onshore wind tenders could squash hopes in the sector for a speedy recovery of onshore wind additions. New installations on land last year had increased somewhat to 1.2GW net, up from 918MW net in 2019, and wind groups estimate that the industry will add some 2-2.5GW this year.

But ongoing permitting bottlenecks, slow bureaucratic procedures and lengthy court cases by wind opponents still seem only partially resolved. Also, Germany needs to greatly step up its onshore wind installations if it wants to reach 2030 climate targets.

“The disappointing tender results for onshore wind energy once again make it clear that things cannot go on like this. Politicians urgently need to turn things around,” said Kerstin Andreae, managing director of the German federation of energy and water industries BDEW.

“This applies in particular to the raising of the EU climate target for 2030 and [Thursday’s] ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court on the Climate Protection Act.”

Germany’s highest court last week had said a 2019 climate law is inadequate as it violates the freedoms of younger generations by pushing the bulk of emission reductions needed under the Paris climate agreement post-2030.

If Berlin were to increase its 2030 climate targets, and with it renewable wind and solar expansion goals, the pressure to approve more wind projects and identify new areas for onshore wind, only will increase.

The BDEW urged the government to make more areas for onshore wind available, as well as speed up permitting procedures through standardised and manageable specifications for species protection and a simplification of repowering at existing locations.

The BNetzA also said that the latest solar tender for 617MW in capacity received 1.5GW in bids, making the tender heavily oversubscribed.

Successful solar bids had an average price of €50.30/MWh.

Wind

'Disappointing': onshore wind still Germany's problem child as solar shines brighter