Germany awarded 2523 MW of new wind power capacity in its latest onshore auction, in a process that again saw a strong oversubscription and brought the average price to its lowest level in eight years.
According to data from the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), the country received 461 bids for 5250 MW for a tendered volume of 2520 MW, but the government finally selected 237 proposals for 2523 MW, while 17 bids were excluded from the process.
Competitive pressure was once again reflected in prices. Awarded bids ranged from €44.9/MWh to €49.8/MWh , with a volume-weighted average of €47.9/MWh .
“Despite the decrease in the volume of bids, this tender again saw demand significantly exceeding supply. This is reflected in the further decrease in the awarded amounts,” said Klaus Müller, president of the Bundesnetzagentur.
The ratio between supply and volume tendered thus exceeded 2 to 1 , maintaining a high level of competition among developers seeking to secure contracts for their projects.
Lower Saxony accounted for the majority of the awards, with 81 projects and 836 MW .
North Rhine-Westphalia followed, with 42 awards for 430 MW , and Rhineland-Palatinate, with 17 projects totaling 336 MW .
The race is accelerating ahead of the regulatory change
The result comes as Germany moves forward with modifications to its regulatory framework for renewables and numerous developers seek to secure their projects under the current conditions.
The German Wind Energy Association (BWE) warned that the volume of projects in the authorization process remains high and that this situation is increasing competitive pressure.
Part of this dynamic, according to the sector, is due to the intention of securing contracts before new modifications to the Renewable Energy Law introduce changes in market conditions.
Germany plans to tender around 10 GW of onshore wind power during 2026 , distributed in four rounds.
In the previous process, the Bundesnetzagentur had selected 270 projects for approximately 2499 MW , also in a high participation scenario.
Although higher tender volumes are expected from 2027 onwards, the BWE believes that pressure will remain high in the short term.
The association is also calling for greater development in the south of the country. Of the 237 bids awarded in this latest round, only 22 were for that region , so it proposes reserving 3,000 MW specifically for the south in both 2027 and 2028.
With bids for more than double the available capacity and prices falling again, the latest auction confirms that German onshore wind power is maintaining strong competition to secure space in the upcoming expansion rounds .