The deadline for bidding in Germany’s 2500MW offshore wind auction, its second of the year, is tomorrow (1 August).
Both tendered sites, N-10.1 and N-10.2, have undergone preliminary investigations and are scheduled for commissioning in 2030 and 2031.
Site N-10.1 covers 151 square kilometers and has a transmission capacity of 2GW. Commissioning of the NOR-10-1 grid connection system is scheduled for 2031.
Site N-10.2 covers 31 square kilometers and has a planned installed capacity of 500MW. The grid connection will be made jointly with Luxcara’s Waterekke wind farm via the offshore grid connection NOR-9-3, which is scheduled to go into operation in 2030.
Successful bidders are required to pay a fee of €37.3 million for site N-10.1 and €9.8 million for site N-10.2.
According to Fraunhofer IWES, sites N-10.1 and N-10.2 are expected to yield fewer than 3,000 full-load hours per year, below average across the entire German North and Baltic Seas. Both wind farms border the planned hydrogen site SEN-1 to the southeast.
“The results of the June auction, with only two bidders and a comparatively low winning bid, are a warning signal,” said BWO Managing Director Stefan Thimm. “A revised auction design could provide a remedy. Unfortunately, this is still pending. We urgently need a course correction,” he added.