Bundesnetzagentur launches auctions for offshore wind power
Auctions another important step towards reaching offshore expansion targets
Year of issue 2024
Date of issue 2024.01.29
The Bundesnetzagentur has today presented two more sites in the North Sea for auction for offshore wind farms. The sites have a total capacity of 2,500 MW and have not been centrally pre-investigated.
The two offshore sites, which have a capacity of 1,500 MW and 1,000 MW respectively, are located about 120 km north-west of Helgoland in the North Sea. The wind farms are due to be operational in 2031.
Auction of non-centrally pre-investigated sites
To achieve the expansion targets for offshore wind, sites are still being auctioned for which the successful bidders will have to conduct investigations on their own responsibility. 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 for these sites. They are thus designated non-centrally pre-investigated sites.
Dynamic bidding procedure for multiple bids with a bid value of zero – reduced electricity costs
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, a dynamic bidding procedure will decide the award, as last year. The award will then be given to the bidder willing to pay the highest amount. The successful bidder will be determined in successive bidding rounds with the bid levels increasing. In 2023, the auction of non-centrally pre-investigated sites resulted in dynamic bidding bringing in a total revenue of €12.6bn, with 90% of revenues going to bring down electricity costs.
Bids by 1 June 2024
Bids must be submitted by 1 June 2024. 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, a dynamic bidding procedure completed.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 2024. These auctions will be for three sites with a total capacity of 5,500 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/windaufseeausschreibungen24-1 (in German).