Bundesnetzagentur launches auctions for offshore wind power
Competitive bidding ‒ a key step towards achieving the offshore expansion target of 30 GW by 2030
Year of issue 2023
Date of issue 2023.01.31
The Bundesnetzagentur has today presented four sites in the North Sea and Baltic Sea for auction for offshore wind farms. The sites have a total capacity of 7,000 MW and have not been centrally pre-investigated by government authorities.
"The auctions are an important step towards achieving the offshore expansion target of 30 GW by 2020,"
said Klaus Müller, President of the Bundesnetzagentur. "The capacity put forward today for auction greatly exceeds the previous annual auction volumes for offshore wind energy."
Three sites for offshore wind farms, each with a capacity of 2,000 MW, are located in the North Sea and one site with a capacity of 1,000 MW is located in the Baltic Sea. The sites in the North Sea are found 120 km north-west of Helgoland whilst the site in the Baltic Sea lies around 25 km from the island of Rügen. The wind farms are due to be operational in 2030.
Auction of non-centrally pre-investigated sites
To achieve the expansion target of 30 GW, the successful bidders for the sites now being offered at auction will have to conduct pre-investigations on their own responsibility before they can set up a wind farm. A government preliminary investigation of the sites, which analyses, for instance, the marine environment, the seabed and wind and oceanographic conditions, has not been carried out on the sites now up for auction. The sites are thus designated non-centrally pre-investigated sites.
Dynamic bidding procedure for multiple bids with a bid value of zero, reduced electricity costs and sustainable marine conservation
The successful bid will be awarded to the bidder who has registered the lowest funding requirement for a wind farm on the site. If several bidders for a site decide not to request funding and submit bids with a bid value of 0 cent per kilowatt hour, this will be the first time that a dynamic bidding procedure decides the award. The award will then be given to be bidder willing to pay the highest amount. The successful bidder will be determined in successive bidding rounds with the bid levels increasing. The proceeds from the dynamic bidding procedure will flow as to 90% into electricity cost reduction and as to 5% in each case into marine nature conservation and into promoting sustainable fishing.
Bids by 1 June 2023
Bids must be submitted by 1 June 2023. The bidders will be informed and the results of the auction published once the bids have been assessed, the successful bids identified and, if necessary, completion of a dynamic bidding procedure. The successful bidders will receive the right to apply for planning approval to construct an offshore wind farm on the site from the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency. In addition, they will be entitled to have the planned wind farm connected to the electricity network to transport the power generated offshore to the supply system.
The Bundesnetzagentur will launch further auctions for offshore wind energy, apart from the ones announced today, by 1 March 2023. These auctions will be for sites with a total capacity of 1,800 MW that have been centrally pre-investigated by the Maritime and Hydrographic Agency.
Further information about the auction for offshore wind farms can be found at www.bundesnetzagentur.de/windaufseeausschreibungen23-1 (in German).